The Mice of NIMH
by Saia Kferr
Summary: Its been a quiet summer since the rats left for Thorn Valley, then word comes that Mr. Ages has gone missing. What's a mouse to do?
1. Mrs Frisby discovers May in June

Part 1. The Fitzgibbon farm.

Chapter 1 _Mrs. Frisby discovers May in June._

The early summer sun was warm where streamers of butter-colored light filtered through the leaves, illuminating the sandy stream bank with dappled patches of light and shadow. The occasional welcome stirrings of a breeze made the still surface of the pool ripple with light and sent the boatmen scurrying to stay in the shadowed shallows where they wouldn't become a meal for the minnows that lived in this quiet section of the stream. From where I sat with Timothy, I could just hear the water passing the tiny waterfall a few feet downstream over the distant rumbling of a tractor. Beneath us the moss was cool and comfortable.

A shriek drew our attention to my three other children. Martin was threatening Cynthia with a tadpole he'd just caught in the shallows, while Teresa watched giggling behind her paws. Now that he was older, Martin looked so much like his father with his light-colored fur and dark spots that it brought a lump to my throat at times, and like his father he was developing a stubborn streak. I was just starting to call him down, when Cynthia put a halt to his games by scooping up a paw full of mud and hitting him square in the face with it.

Sputtering, Martin dropped the tadpole and as he was distracted wiping at his eyes; it flipped and flopped back to the water, darting away to freedom in the depths.

Timothy's chuckle was more felt than heard before he said "Serves him right. He knows how much she hates slimy things."

Turning, I asked "How do you feel Timmy?" as I touched his ears to see if they were warm.

He gave a long suffering sigh before answering "Better. The sun's helped a lot Mom. Can I go down and play now?" he asked trying not to whine.

Finding his temperature normal, I smiled and replied "OK, but don't get into the mud or water. And remember that Mr. Ages said you would wear-out easily till your lungs are fully healed."

With a "Yes Mother!" he got quickly to his feet and scurried down to where Martin was washing the last of the mud from his face and promising mayhem to his laughing sisters.

Timmy still looked thin, his brown fur still a bit dry and patchy, and he had problems getting started in the mornings till his lungs cleared, but he was undeniably getting better. Mr. Ages had warned that he would always be small with the hard start he'd had in life, but he was looking so much better than he had when we finally moved to the summer house it brought my mind some peace. His tail was again a healthy pink and his quick intelligent brown eyes were once again bright.

I watched our children playing and sighed, wishing again that Jonathan could have told me about himself and why our family was so different. Why when the children of other families born at the same time as Martin were now great great grandparents, he was just beginning to look like an adult. Why our children tended to spend so much more time walking on two legs rather than four. Why when my friends were having six or more children at a time, I had only one, and that with great difficulty.

On the day I went to the rats for their help Nicodemus had told me much of NIMH, and after the rats were gone I'd learned much more from Mr. Ages. I must admit with a bit of shame and pleasure that I'd leaned on him a bit for some of those answers while he recovered from his broken ankle. This was something that I would never have done before the desperate events of this spring, and just another in the list of things that had changed in me since Jonathan's death.

Many of the things that I learned were not comforting, and a few even made me rethink some of the things Nicodemus had told me. The most alarming of the things he had told me and one that I had begun to suspect in my darker moments was that I would most likely die of old age before Cynthia became an adult! The gray hairs that were invading my fur in greater and greater numbers like the leaves turning in the fall proved the truth in what he had told me.

Another thing that worried me was the constant problem with my children's friends. Other children would outgrow them in a few weeks, and the strangeness of this would drive away the other mice. There was also the double edged sword of how dreadfully smart they were. Other children both looked up to and feared them for they had answers to many problems from experience their friends had never encountered before. They also were able to think about and see answers to problems in ways that were just not normal to mice.

Perhaps NIMH had changed me too, but indirectly. I certainly spent more time thinking than most mice. It had started back when Jonathan would tell me stories. They were so fantastic that I'd thought he made them up to pass the time during that first long cold winter, but now I knew better. They'd been the stories of his travels and his extraordinary life, and I wish with all my heart that I'd paid more attention to his words at the time. Now I would sit and struggle to bring them back to mind; and with what I had learned I could unlock and open a door on a bit more of that part of his life that his honor, and perhaps a bit of fear, had kept him from sharing with me.

My time spent in thought had brought me loneliness in a way as well. Many of the other mice thought me as strange as my children and shied away from me because of all the time I spent just thinking. I gave a grim chuckle because they would only stay away till they had a problem they couldn't solve. I'd lost count of the times others that would normally shun me would bring me their problems, and it looked like my children would inherit my lonely cloak of oracle.

Looking back to my lovely children as they played, I had to smile at one thing. I had noticed recently that Teresa had taken the mantel of storyteller from Timothy while he was ill. In the evenings she would be surrounded by a small crowd of young mice, gofers, chipmunks, and voles gathered to listen to the stories she would spin for them, like the one she told last night about the blind mockingbird and the ghosts. At least she of all my children would not want for company in her timeless future.

From the corner of my eye I became aware of movement and turning, found Janice cautiously approaching the door to our summerhouse. She was one of the few mice that didn't shy away from my family and myself and would come over just to talk when the mood struck her.

I called "Janice! Here!"

She jumped a bit at the sound, and after turning a full circle to be sure my voice hadn't alerted a predator, she came over. When she arrived she asked sociably while looking around for danger "How are you and your family today Elizabeth?"

I smiled and answered "We're all doing well. How are you and yours?"

Settling next to me after sniffing the air, she smiled and replied "I'm happy to say I now have an empty summer house. I just saw off my youngest and helped her move into the old stump up near the pine thicket."

"Any prospects?" I asked as she settled to grooming her ears and whiskers.

She chuckled "Three so far, but she thinks she can do better, and I agree."

For a moment she was silent as we watched some bugs flittering in a shaft of sunlight while the children piled up pebbles in some sort of game they seemed to be making up as they played, then she said, "Oh, I almost forgot what I came here to tell you. While I was up helping my daughter, I saw Blackberry, one of the rabbits that live up that way. Well, I stopped her and asked if she had seen Dragon. She said she hadn't, but she did tell me something that I thought I should pass on to you, you being his friend and all."

I waited for a few moments for her to continue, then when she didn't I asked "Who did Blackberry tell you about Janice?"

She blinked "Oh, I thought I told you. She was talking about the rats" and she fell silent again as a bird flying over caught her attention.

I sighed knowing that if I pushed, Janice would become flustered and not be able to remember what she was going to tell me, but finally I prompted "Rats? I thought they were all gone now with the rosebush dug up."

She turned her attention back to me and gathered her thoughts. Finally she said, "Yes, rats. I was talking to Blackberry the rabbit and she said she saw a bunch of them in the woods the other day, near the old farm. She said they were strange and carrying strange things." Lowering her voice she somewhat fearfully added, "She said they had Mr. Ages with them and were being none to gentle with him, and there was the smell of blood on the air."

Most of the mice and many other animals held great respect for Mr. Ages and his healing ability, also more than a bit of fear. After all, power that can do great good can sometimes do great harm as well.

Becoming somewhat concerned I asked "Was she sure it was Mr. Ages and not just some young white rat, and did she say what they were carrying, or how they were strange?"

Janice nodded "She was sure it was him. She'd gone to Mr. Ages for medicine for one of her children's eyes, so she knew him by sight."

Looking proud she continued "I knew you'd ask about the strange thing they carried, so since she didn't have a name for what she saw; I got her to tell me what they looked like. When she did they sounded like the carrying things you make. Satchels, I think was the word you used, and she said that a few of them were walking on their back legs and carrying sticks with shiny bits on them."

She sighed and continued, "If the rats took him, I doubt we'll see Ages again. You know how rats are to mice" she finished with a shiver.

Janice had my full attention now as I asked, "When did she see this?"

"About two days ago" Janice answered. Checking the tall grass behind us for danger she continued "I know he saved your youngest son twice, so I thought you would want to know."

Getting to my feet I said, "Thank you Janice, and I hate to run off on you, but I need to look into this."

Cupping my paws in front of my mouth I called "Children! Come here!"

They looked up from their play, then came pelting our direction as Janice said slowly and sadly "I don't understand you Elizabeth. No one in their right mind would choose to go into danger and I know you are not sick or mad, but….." With a slight smile she touched my shoulder saying, "Be safe Elizabeth" before bounding away into the grass.

The children were laughing and poking at each other as they stopped before me, and Martin asked, "What's up Mom?"

I smiled as reassuringly as I could and said "I've got to go and check on Mr. Ages so I need you all to be on your best behavior. I want you to watch after each other and I want you to stay near the house. I should be back before dark, but if I'm not, there's enough to eat for tonight and in the morning."

"Is something wrong with Mr. Ages?" asked Timothy, his brown eyes narrowing as if he could see my thoughts.

I shrugged saying "I'm not sure. It's just that Janice said a few things that make me think I should go and check on him, but I doubt that he's in any trouble."

The four looked at each other as though carrying on an unspoken conversation. They did this often now, and to be honest it sometimes frightened me. I knew they were far smarter and had a quicker wit than I. Now that they were getting some age on them it was growing harder to mislead them, so in most things I didn't try but could still get an occasional omission past them. Thankfully, they still seemed to respect me and would still bow to my authority when I pressed it, though I feared that that could end any day.

It was Martin that asked "What did Janice say Mother? I doubt you'd be dropping everything and running off this late in the day to see him if it was just he had the sniffles. Has he broken his leg again?"

Coming to a quick decision I said "She told me that a rabbit had seen Mr. Ages with a group of rats. If they are still there I'm hoping to find out if it," I choked for a moment, and then continued, "if it really was Justin that I thought I saw the humans pull from the nest."

They became gloomy at my words having all liked the easygoing rat with the roguish smile, and Teresa, her dark eyes shyly downcast asked, "Can I come Mother? I liked Justin too. He was very nice when he came to help us."

I shook my head "I don't know if it is them or if they are still there, and it's the time of the year for snakes to be out around the old farm."

Seeing the disappointed look on her thin delicate-featured face, I held up a paw saying "If it wasn't him I saw pulled from the nest and he is with the rats, I'll ask if he can come by for a visit on their way back to the mountains. Good enough?"

Teresa scuffed her foot in the moss but finally nodded saying "I guess" as Martin chuckled and said, "I think you're sweet on him."

The chocolate-brown fur on her face puffed out and her whiskers bristled in anger as Martin batted his eyes, grasped his paws next to his cheek, and said in a falsetto voice "Oh Justin, I want to have your pups!"

That was when she jumped on him and they started rolling around scratching and snarling at each other.

With a sigh I turned to Timmy and said "Watch out for them will you?"

He sighed in a long suffering way as Cynthia giggled and backpedaled from the two wrestlers.

XXXX

By the time I'd gone to the house and collected my comfortable old red cape, a satchel made of folded green leaves, and packed it with the cape and a few seeds for lunch, the battle was over and the two combatants were engaged with their siblings in harassing a carpenter ant. Seeing them all together I could see how much Cynthia had grown this spring. She was almost as tall at Timothy now and starting to lose some of that baby roundness as she began to cross the line from child to young adult.

Shaking my head, I closed the satchel by tucking the top of the leaf into the body. It was a smaller copy of the one that I'd admired when I saw Nicodemus using his in the rosebush. It seemed such a good idea, when things in my life calmed a bit, I had set out to make one for myself. After several false starts I had built something that was both serviceable but also a bit different as well. I'd added a second strap I could slip over my other arm as well to make a pack that I could carry on my back allowing me to go on all four when needed. It helped me carry a great deal more, so it made the job of feeding my family much easier.

I guessed it was something like this Blackberry had seen, and I knew of only one group of rats that would have such. The ones I had learned it from.

Stepping outside, I smiled at my four children as I slipped the straps over my shoulders and settled the bag against my back before calling "I'll be back as soon as I can children!"

Turning away as they called their goodbyes, I dropped to all fours and started toward the abandoned farm at an easy lope.

It was still hard for me to leave them on their own, but they had become more responsible on the whole after the events of the spring. Looking at the fur on my arm and its peppering of gray, I knew I would have to force them to grow up even more soon. It was sad to think that this would be my last summer, but such is the life of a mouse. That is unless you were from NIMH, or the child of a NIMH survivor it seemed.

That was another reason I had to check on Mr. Ages. After some serious arm-twisting, he had agreed to check in on the children when I was gone and to provide the adult guidance they could require if they didn't mature enough over the next few months. He wasn't thrilled with the idea, but had caved in when I put pressure on him. His motto was "_Growing children are something for other people to deal with. I just heal and birth em__!_"

XXXX

It took me about an hour to travel to the storm drain under the Fitzgibbon driveway. It was a corrugated metal tube that stretched about ten feet under the drive near the gate to the farm. Unless it was raining, the drain was normally dry and half full of sandy soil. To my left the hilly land opened out wide where it had been cleared and planted by the Fitzgibbons. That huge stretch of well tended fields was only broken by the gray of the winding gravel drive. To my right the forest closed in around the old blacktopped road that ended at the drive, cloaking it in a green gloom. About thirty yards down on the other side of the road, an overgrown drive that had once offered access to the other farm could just be made out. In a few more years it, like the old farm's fields, would be altogether hidden in the overgrowth.

The pipe was the most inviting way to cross the road, and I intended to take it, but I hadn't lived as long as I had by being foolish. I checked the direction of the wind to make sure it was taking my scent away from the pipe, then paused at the entrance listening and testing the warm air. This time of the summer snakes would sometimes take up residence in the pipe and would make a quick meal of anyone foolish enough to enter without checking.

As I stood motionless listening for the telltale hiss of scales moving or breathing over the razzing of bugs in the weed-choked ditch, I noticed in the distance some dark specks flitting about above the fields; and had to smile. Crows are carefree creatures and, having grown close to Jeremy over the spring, I felt warmth for them now that I had never felt before. He'd not only proved himself a true friend, but brave as well.

My revelry was broken as I heard the papery rasp of scale against scale, and moved away from the entrance to the pipe with a shiver. Of all the creatures that prey on us, snakes had to be one of the worst. Most predators would make an attack, but break off if they failed on that first try. Some would attack and make an attempt to dig you out if you went to ground, but a snake could and would follow you wherever you could go. If one of them set their mind on eating you, there was really little you could do to save yourself but run; and poison is not a pleasant way to die.

Realizing that I had to cross the road above ground and would be in the open anyway, I had a thought. If one of those crows up there playing was Jeremy, perhaps he had seen something, if I could get the information out of him.

Hoping for the best, I pulled out my cloak and held it so that the red cloth would catch the light and show up well against the green background. Birds and mice could see red, but to most of the things that would love to eat me, my cloak would be just another patch of gray.

After a few minutes, one of the black specks broke off from its play and came my direction. In a few moments I was able to recognize my friend and repacked my cape. He landed with considerably more grace than he had earlier in the year and burst out with an earsplitting "MRS. FRISBY! It's good to see you!"

I felt a smile cross my face and asked "And how are you and your family, Jeremy?" as I admired how much he had grown.

He cocked his head and laughed "As wonderful as this warm sunny day dear lady. Is that boy of yours still doing OK?"

"Timothy's doing fine" I assured him "but I have a question for you. Have you seen any of the rats around?"

Jeremy cocked his head again and his bright eyes regarded me for a moment before he said somewhat softly "As a matter of fact I have. Back in the woods near that big blackberry bramble where they had their backdoor before the humans dug it up. They've been doing a lot of digging themselves from the big pile of fresh dirt there."

He asked in concern "Are you needing their help again?"

I shook my head feeling a bit more concerned by his words, but determined not to let him know. From what Nicodemus had said, I hadn't expected them to ever return, much less this quickly, and why would they be mistreating Mr. Ages unless something very strange was going on. There had to be something wrong, and leaving a pile of dirt that could easily be seen didn't fit what I thought I knew of them ether. Finally I said "No, I don't need their help, but I am a bit worried for one of my friends. Do you remember Mr. Ages?"

Jeremy preened at his left wing for a moment as he thought, then brightened "Oh yea, he's the white mouse that lives over there in the old basement, isn't he? I've seen him a time or two, and people talk about him all the time you know."

"Have you seen him lately" I asked.

The crow closed one eye and stuck out his tongue in deep thought for about thirty seconds, then shook his head "Na, it's been a few weeks since the last time I saw him."

I smiled "Do you think you could look over the bramble and see if you see him there and if there are rats there; what they are doing? One of my friends seems to think he may be in some sort of trouble."

He brightened and gave an earsplitting squawk before asking "You want me to land and talk to him if he's there?"

I shook my head "That may not be a good idea. Those rats… they may not be friendly and they may be keeping him there against his will. Just fly over and see if he's there and what he's doing if he is. I'm going on over to his house and see if this could all just be a misunderstanding and he's actually home safe.

"Do you mind doing this for me?" I asked worried that I could be taking advantage of our friendship.

He looked down and shook his head saying "Gosh no. If it wasn't for you, Dragon would've had me for sure. I owe you my life and I don't mind helping you at all. I consider you my best friend!" and with that he was off in a blast of air and a loose black feather that slowly settled to the ground.

XXXX

The abandoned lawn had badly overgrown since the farmhouse burned, so there were plenty of places to take cover as I moved carefully toward the old house site. The problem was cover after I arrived. The socket in the basement wall where the floor beam had once sat and Mr. Ages made his home was in the open, as were the broken bricks that you had to go down like a stairway to get there.

I was using more care than normal as I approaching the old cellar. I didn't want to show myself in that open space till I had no choice, so I'd decided to look over Mr. Ages' home from the opposite side of the old basement first. That way I could see if there were any sign of trouble before crossing that open ground.

Peering from under the cover of a large milkweed, I felt my heart hit my feet. I could see that the bit of old shingle Mr. Ages used as a door was twisted and hanging by only one hinge, but that was all I could see. The gloom inside the old socket was too deep to make out more than a few vague shapes, but otherwise the place seemed deserted. The small clearing above where Mr. Ages saw his larger guests seemed empty too.

For a long time I watched for any sign of movement, but finally seeing nothing, I worked my way around to the clearing. After checking the sky and the surrounding greenery as best I could, I dashed to the stairway of broken bricks, staying low and under every scrap of cover I could find, then down to the broken door.

Inside, I found the once orderly piles of herbs were scattered, and the bit of brick Mr. Ages used as a grinding stone was overturned and littered with the papers he normally wrapped his remedies in. I also saw something I had never seen before when I visited Mr. Ages. There was a section of brick at the back of the socket that hinged open like a door, and behind it was a study, much like the one where I had spoken to Nicodemus the previous spring and behind that a bedroom. In the gloom I could see that all the furniture had been made for someone the size of Mr. Ages or myself, but it was tumbled about and some smashed. The study walls had at onetime been lined with shelves that likely had been filled to overflowing with stacks of paper, but now most of that paper littered the floor to a depth almost up to my knee where it had been flung about!

The room had the appearance of someone hurriedly looking for something and caring nothing for the destruction they caused in the process. Seeing the wanton devastation, I suddenly felt the need to get out of there! With a last sad look over my shoulder, I headed back up the steps wondering what I would do if Timothy got sick again.

I was just getting ready to poke my head over the edge of the brickwork to see if it was safe when a shadow lunged over the edge above me and suddenly I felt myself lifted bodily from the steps by sharp teeth on both sides of my neck!

It happened so fast I had no time to feel fear or surprise as I found myself suddenly face to face with a rat and realized another bigger rat had me by the neck!

Rolling my eyes, all I could see of the one that held me was an out of focus set of great yellow teeth and a body dressed in tattered blue rags that seemed to go on forever.

The first rat I could now see was a female dressed in a neat blue tunic like Justin had worn said "It's just another stupid mouse, but it does have something on its back. Put her down Alex and let's see what we have here."

I felt the pressure of the teeth vanish and a rather dull voice said, "I told you I saw somethen movin over here."

Pawing at me, the rat apparently named Alex continued, "It has pack. Is it smart like white mouse?"

Now that I had the chance to take their measure I could see the first rat was a sleek female with that strange indeterminable mixture of age and self-assurance that the Rats of NIMH displayed as adults. She said sharply to me "Don't try to run or I'll have Alex pop your head like a blueberry! Quickly now, what are you doing here?"

Trying to sound a bit dull, I said, "I'm here to check on Mr. Ages. Sometimes he has me bring him food or plants, and he gives me things."

Her eyes narrowed and she asked sharply "Things, what sort of things?"

Slowly and carefully I took my pack from my back and opened it saying "Things like this. Isn't it beautiful?" I asked as I pulled out my old cloak and unfurled it.

While she examined the cloak I asked, "Where is Mr. Ages? He didn't say he would be gone."

The female looked my cape over and sighed in disgust as she finally tossed it back into my face saying, "Just one of Ages go-fors."

Alex made a grumble and said, "She is mouse, not gofer."

The female snapped "I said go-for not….. ah, forget it!

Turning and walking away, she growled over her shoulder "She's worthless. You can kill her whenever you want."

I felt my heart slam into my ribs and I know I gasped as I franticly waved my cloak and said "NO no, please. I'm a good worker! I would work for you if you let me!"

The rat Alex paid no heed to my words as he said in a gruesomely lighthearted voice "May has learned me to count. I show you how good I can count. I let you run while I count to five, then I come kill you. OK?"

Looking up into the brutish face as it grinned back at me with huge yellow teeth; I suddenly turned, clamped my teeth on my cloak, and ran for all I was worth!

As the distance opened I heard the female say in a bored voice "Play if you want Alex, but don't let her get away. And bring back the body when you are done. A bit of meat would be welcome with dinner."

Not that I needed any more encouragement, but that made me run all the faster! I pelted in a straight line back through the overgrown yard while behind me I heard a fading voice calling "One. Two. Four."

"Three is after two Alex."

" Thanks May. Three. Four. Five, here I come!"

Heart hammering with my fear and exertion, I broke into the thinner undergrowth at the edge of the yard trying to hold the gap between the rat and myself. I dashed along as quickly as my legs would take me, hopefully through passages that would prove too small for my pursuer. Alex wasn't as big a Brutus, but I knew he was more than a match for me! If only I could make it to the drive!

The crackling and scrabbling of something large behind breaking through the undergrowth I was dodging through got slowly louder and louder as my lungs and muscles burned with my effort! Suddenly, almost to the drive, something slammed into me and I found myself on my back with the weight of Alex pressing down on me like a stone! He was panting as he growled "Good… run…. little… mouse. I…. end it quick…. when… I catch my breath."

I could only gasp, cry, and claw at that huge mouth as it open and descend toward my throat! Then we were both tumbling as a fury of black feathers and angry screeching slammed into Alex and bodily tore him from me!

Scrabbling to my feet and snatching up my cloak, I again ran while behind me I heard squealing and furious cawing cries.

I knew Jeremy wouldn't be able to distract Alex for long, but hopefully it would be long enough! I was just glad he'd seen the cloak and the trouble I was in! Sooner than I expected, I found the drainage ditch and ran along it to the pipe under the driveway. Climbing up a saw brier growing near the entrance, I shoved my cloak into the head of a stalk of grass growing there, and then grabbed the stalk a bit further down with both paws and shoved away from the saw brier with my feet. Slowly the stalk started bending under my weight. As it picked up speed I slid down, trying to guide the stalk as it fell. It would soon break under my weight, but I didn't want it to break too soon! I guided the head of the grass stalk into the pipe opening, and felt it snap at its base just as I hit the ground! Picking myself up, I ran for the other side of the ditch and jumped into a tuft of tall grass and hid.

There was another loud angry squawk and I saw Jeremy take to wing calling "RUN MRS. FRISBY, RUN!"

I hunkered down and did my best to get my breathing under control as I watched Jeremy swoop down on something that was drawing steadily closer once, then again.

In moments Alex's head poked from the grass. One of his eyes was shut and his ears were bloody and tattered, but he was still on the hunt!

Looking around, he spotted my cloak where it lay almost inside the pipe just as Jeremy made another attack from behind. The impact sent the rat sprawling head over heels into the sand at the mouth of the pipe. Cursing, he got to his feet spitting sand and then dashed into the supposed safety of the pipe where he expected to find me!

In moments there was a horrible scream that seemed to go on and on! I folded my ears down with my paws to try to keep the hideous sound out, but it only muffled the gurgling cries that would likely haunt me for the rest of my life!

Then finally there was silence again, only broken by the razzing of the bugs in the grass and Jeremy's angry calls from overhead.

Getting to my feet, I made my way to my cloak on legs that felt made of string rather than blood and bone. The snake would be busy with Alex for some time, so I felt relatively safe, but the shadows I could see down in the pipe as I picked up my cloak sickened me.

Scurrying as best I could out of the ditch I laid out my cloak again and sprawled in the sand next to it panting. In moments Jeremy made a none too graceful landing next to me. He had cuts and bite marks, and a long bloody scratch on the side of his face, but he was oh so beautiful to me!

Getting to my feet, I wrapped my arms as far around his neck as I could and hugged him asking in a shaking voice "Are you OK!?"

Jeremy chuckled "I'm OK, but you should see the other guy!"

I shivered saying softly "I did."

He swallowed and glanced back to the pipe before saying "Oh, I heard him, but didn't see. Sorry."

Stepping back I swallowed hard again saying "I guess we're even Jeremy. You just save my life! Thank you ever so much!"

He grinned and blinked in embarrassment "Yea, I guess we are at that. Never thought I'd be a hero" he said with a squawking laugh before he sobered saying "I didn't see Mr. Ages, but the rats over there have been building a new nest. There's a new hole under the old overhang with a big pile of dirt next to it and rats coming and going."

I nodded saying "Thanks Jeremy. Meet me at the summer house and I'll see what I can do for those scratches and bites, then I've got to figure out what I'm going to do, but we need to clear out before Dragon or that May come to see what all the yelling was about."

"May?" he asked cocking his head.

I shivered a bit and said "I'll tell you about her when we get you seen to."

End Chapter 1


	2. An old friend lends advice

Chapter 2 _An old friend lends advice._

I was still a short distance from home when I heard Jeremy's raucous voice proclaiming "… right behind his head and he went tail over appetite into the ditch!

"Then, while I was climbing for another strike, he must have seen the cape, the same as I did, and dashed for the, WOW! OUCH! What are you doing there?"

I heard Cynthia soft reply, but couldn't make out the words just as I cleared the last of the grass tufts between the clearing around the house and the forest. Jeremy was there with all four of my children. Martin was standing with his paws held out while Teresa was carefully draping spider webs she was collecting across them. Cynthia was packing some of the worst of Jeremy's wounds with moss while Timothy was wrapping the spider web he was taking from Martin around the wounds to hold the moss in place or just to stop the bleeding. All in all, they were doing a very good job and I felt pride at how well the children could pull together when needed.

My pride diminished a bit when they noticed me, and all four dropped what they were doing to rush to me, leaving Jeremy forgotten. Suddenly I had strong arms around me, and a swarm of worried, loving voices welcoming me home and asking if I was OK.

"Children! Children!" I cried, "I'm just fine, but you seem to have left a job unfinished."

Jeremy laughed, "I'd have been surprised if they didn't run to you Mrs. Frisby. That was a heck of a thing you did!"

Cynthia asked "Did you really feed the bad rat to a snake Momma?" while Timothy seemed to be checking me for wounds.

I shook my head pointing to my friend saying, "While you finish the job you started, I'll tell you what happened, how brave Jeremy was, and what I know."

I folded my cloak and using it as a pillow, lay down on the moss to let my burning arms and legs rest while I told my story. The job on Jeremy was quickly completed and he was uncharacteristically quiet as I gave a much less flamboyant recount of what had happened.

When I was done, they all stood quietly, even Jeremy, till Martin asked "She didn't ask anything, just told the other rat to kill you so they could…. um eat you, Mom?" he finished looking greener than the moss around us.

I nodded "Nothing."

"And you are sure this… May, was a NIMH rat?" as Timothy dubiously.

I nodded again "I'm sure. They all have a….. well, a look about them. It's hard to describe, but it's the way they move, act, and hold themselves that makes them different. If you know what you're looking for you can spot them easily enough."

Jeremy nodded, and still subdued, added "Yea, like your kids Mrs. Frisby. They don't look around or jump as much as normal mice. They're…. um, more confident in what they know is around than most mice? Yea that's it, more confident, and you got some of that too Mrs. Frisby. I bet there isn't one mouse in a hundred that would have thought of misleading that rat the way you did!"

I felt a cold shiver thinking back to that long last gurgling squeal that Alex had given and sat up hugging my knees to my chest. He may have been scum and trying to kill me, but his fate could just as easily have been mine if I hadn't thought first!

Swallowing hard, I asked, "Jeremy, what exactly did you see down at the bramble?"

His eyes brightened as his humor quickly returned, and he strutted back and forth, the bits of spider web seemed like badges of honor as he wove his story. It was full of embellishments, but it boiled down to this, he didn't see Ages, there were rats working on a new tunnel next to the one that the men from NIMH had ripped up, and he'd been returning to tell me when he'd seen flashes of red from my cloak as I ran through the wood toward the road. Seeing Alex after me, he'd attacked him and paid for the time he'd bought for me with several bites that would be painful for days.

After a moments silence, Timothy said, "I wonder where that May came from. She couldn't be one of the rats that went to Thorn Valley."

"What makes you think that?" Teresa challenged.

Timothy answered slowly as if going over each step in his mind before speaking "Well, Mom said every adult rat in the rosebush was at the meeting when they decided to evacuate and even if she had missed the meeting she should have at least known Mom had given them the warning about NIMH sending people to gas and dig them out. She should have known how Mom had taken Mr. Ages place that night with Dragon. So she should have recognized her from that meeting or at the least known that there was a possibility that she would come visit him. However she not only didn't recognize her, she didn't seem to think any exceptional mice could visit him and didn't even ask her name, even after seeing the backpack and cape."

"Then were did she come from?" asked Martin somewhat belligerently. "I hope you don't expect us to think she just appeared out of thin air."

Timothy sighed, "Isn't it obvious brother? If she is a NIMH rat and didn't come from the rosebush when Mom was there, then she had to be an outcast, which seems unlikely, or from the group that left with Jenner.

"Mom said that Justin and the others thought that they all died in the hardware store from Mr. Fitzgibbons story, but at least she must have survived, and likely others as well."

Looking around at us he said softly "That's who's digging into the rat's old nest. Jenner's come home to reclaim the kingdom he never wanted to leave."

XXXX

There wasn't much left of the day after our adventure, but what there was we used to plan. Jeremy offered his services to observe the dig site starting the next day and gather intelligence for us. I was very clear that he should not undertake any action on his own. He could possibly handle one rat if he surprised it as he had Alex, but two or more and they would have him.

It was unstated, but all of us believed that we should not make ourselves known to these rats. If May's actions and the fact that Ages had apparently been forcefully removed from his home were any indication, then they would have no qualms about killing or enslaving us all!

XXXX

By evening Jeremy was feeling the effects of his bites. He flittered up into the trees to find a place to roost for the night after eating a bit of our stored grain. His mate was off with their two fledglings teaching them the limits of their patrol area and not expected back for several weeks. Then it would be his turn to take them out and teach for a few weeks, but for now he was free to do as he pleased.

Clouds closed in about nightfall and there was a wet smell to the cool air.

As we gathered about the rock we used as a table, eating some corn in the gathering dusk, Teresa asked, "Mother, what will the strange rats do if some of the Thorn Valley rats come back?"

I felt a chill go up my spine as I thought of some of those good people running head first into rats like May and heard Timothy answer for me "Nothing good you can bet."

Martin turned from looking at Timothy and said, "Mom, we really should let the Thorn Valley rats know what's happening."

I felt a thrill at the thought of seeing them again, but the trip…. With a sigh I said, "It's a long journey, and we don't know the way."

Timothy chimed in as he swallowed the last of his corn "I bet Jeremy knows. We could ask him, and maybe he would fly one of us there!"

I nodded, both thrilled and terrified at the idea of flying again, but I said, "Let's see what Jeremy finds out tomorrow before we think about that."

XXXX

The next day put a damper on our plans, quite literally. It was a drizzly and dreary all day. Jeremy flew out early to watch the rats, but it was such a nasty day that I doubted that we'd learn much, and I was right. The children and I went out and collected some more food, but otherwise we just hunkered down and waited.

XXXX

The day after was better. The sun came out and it was warm but a bit windy.

At the end of the day Jeremy returned and fluttered down squawking with excitement "I saw him! I saw him!"

Teresa asked, "It was Mr. Ages? You're sure?"

Jeremy nodded vigorously "Yea, it was him. I've seen him before and I heard one of the guards that lead him out to the pen call him by name."

I felt my brow furrow, but before I could ask Teresa went on "Pen, what pen Jeremy?"

He blinked "Um, the one near where they are piling all the dirt from the hole they're making. The guard said they were going to let him walk around in there a bit each evening before sunset."

While the children were looking back and forth at each other I asked, "Is there any cover close to where the pen is?"

Jeremy shrugged before fluffing out his feathers and saying "Yea, come to think of it there are some clumps of grass and briers. I wouldn't want to land where they built that thing normally, and it's a bit narrow for me to land inside, but maybe we can do it."

Martin sighed, "I bet it's a trap."

Timothy nodded and asked "Did you see the pen last time you were there Jeremy?"

"Um, no. I don't think it was there now that you mention it."

Martin nodded as he looked at Timothy, "Time enough for that May to get back to them and let them know someone came looking for Mr. Ages. Now they are showing him off as bait."

Teresa said thoughtfully "Maybe we can use that against them in some way, but I think to do it we're going to need help."

Martin nodded "Maybe, but we need to see how it's all setup."

Looking at the crow he asked, "Jeremy, could you land one of us in a tree near enough to where the pen is to watch them?"

"You bet! After what that May was going to do, I'd be happy to help you any way I can" he said with his eyes flashing.

I was just getting a good breath to cut this line of thought off when Martin turned to me saying "One of us needs to go and map the pen out and see if we can figure how the trap works, but Mom, if we're right and there is a way to get him out, I think you'll need to do something dangerous."

Put off balance, I asked "Dangerous? What, how?"

Looking me in the eye he said softly "Just guessing here, but I think, like Teresa says, we're going to need some help to get Mr. Ages free. He's built up a lot of collateral over the years if what he says is true about how many animals he's treated, but I think there's only one way we'll be able to call it in because we don't know all the people he's worked for. If Jeremy agrees, do you feel up to going to talk to the Great Owl again? Likely he will know who to talk to."

Fear beat at me as in my mind I was again penned by those great yellow eyes. Swallowing hard I finally heard a shaky voice say, "Yes, I think I can do it." A moment or two passed before I realized that the voice had been mine.

XXXX

The next morning was hot and still as we gathered before the sun even started threatening to come up. The plan was for Jeremy to drop Martin in a tree to observe, then come back and try to get me to the owl's tree before he bedded down for the day. It was hard watching him climb up on Jeremy's back with his backpack full of birch bark, a blackberry for ink, and a sharp stick to write with.

I gave him all the advice I could think of about flying, but stopped myself when I realized I was rambling on and finally stood back. He smiled back down at us saying, "Wish me luck" as Jeremy heaved himself and his passenger into dim morning.

My heart felt like a stone in my chest as I watched them out of sight. I know Martin was long overdue for adulthood as a mouse, and the fact that he still wasn't quite an adult weighed heavily on him, but he really wasn't and I feared that he was doing this to try to prove something to himself and us.

I'd wrestled with the problem all the previous night. One moment on the verge of forbidding him to go, the next cold reality would strike and I knew I would need to start letting go if my children were going to be able to survive without me. Better to guide them in the time I had left in make good choices, rather than to keep trying to protect them.

As we started back into the house to wait for Jeremy's return, Teresa stopped me with a paw on my shoulder as Timothy and Cynthia entered ahead of us arguing good-naturedly over if Jeremy had flown off in the right direction. Softly she asked "Why did you do it Mother? I thought for sure you'd forbid Martin going."

Looking into her bright brown eyes I ran through a few things I could have told her, but finally settled on the truth saying "Sweetheart, you and Martin are going to need to start making decisions for yourselves fairly soon. You'll need to make decisions about safety, and how you will live your lives, and about the rest of the family for that matter."

Her brow knitted and she asked in a worried voice "What do you mean? Are you going to throw us out or something?"

I felt my heart melt as I shook my head saying "Of course not, but let me ask you this, how old do you think I am dear?"

She seemed put-off for a moment saying, "I don't know. I've never really thought about it."

Putting a hand on her shoulder I said softly "Sweetie, I think I was three years old last winter."

I could almost see her mind working behind her eyes for a moment as she considered this, then those expressive eyes widened and her paw came up to her mouth as her breath caught.

I nodded saying "You can share this with Martin, but let Timothy and Cynthia have a few more weeks of peace before we tell them."

Teresa's eyes began to shimmer with tears as she pulled me into a fierce hug saying in a broken whisper "Please don't leave us too Mother!"

Sniffling a bit myself, I answered through a suddenly tight throat "I have no say in this Sweetie, but I'll be here for you as long as I can."

Timothy's voice came to us as he poked his head out of the door asking "Are you two….." His voice faltered, his ears colored, and he quickly ducked back inside as Cynthia asked, "What are they doing?"

His reply of "Girl stuff" made her giggle and I heard her say, "I'm glad I'm not into that icky junk."

Teresa and I looked at each other and something like laughter was torn from us.

XXXX

Jeremy was gone longer than I expected him to be. It was midmorning when he finally returned and I was nearly beside myself with worry.

As he fluttered down for a landing and we gathered around him he said "I know I promised to come right back, but Martin wanted me to stay for a bit and bring this back" he said holding out a leg with a small piece of rolled up birch bark tied around it with a bit of leaf stem.

Teresa untied it and we all gathered around to see what she had. It was actually two sheets when unrolled, one a map, the other a letter.

The map showed the pen, and beside it were two X marks with four more some distance back. The hole was also clearly marked along with the outline of the bramble.

The letter I squinted at, but after a moment turned it over to Timothy to read. I could make out a few letters and words, but to read it would have been a hard job for me, but not my children, and he was the best of the four.

Timothy cleared his throat, squinted down at the printing, and read

_I'm sorry to hold you up, but after getting here I could see a few things that may make it easier for you to decide what to do. I had Jeremy move me around a few times and could see not only the pen, but also where several blinds have been built to hide guards in the undergrowth. They are marked with an X on the map. I also think I see a bit of string that could be part of a net hidden in the dead leaves near where the first two guards would likely be stationed. I will wait here till nightfall to watch as they actually come out and take their places and hopefully will have a head count as well. _

_Martin_

Timothy looked up from the note "Wow, six guards. Sounds like they developed a lot of respect for you real quick, Mom."

Before I could answer Teresa said slowly "There may be something else here. That possible net…. They wouldn't need that with all the goons for just you Mom."

Looking up, she asked "Jeremy, those blinds, did they have tops, and were they setup so that someone inside could look up?"

Jeremy thought about it for a bit then said "They were hard to see till Martin pointed em out, but yea, they had tops and they had slots around the sides and tops so you could see all around. Why, what does it mean?"

Teresa said softly "It means that May heard or saw the fight and knows about you, and that they will be watching for a bird. Likely that net is intended for you."

My heart jumped into my throat at her words and I cried, "Then they will be watching the trees! Jeremy, please if you would, go get Martin now. I don't want him trapped in a tree with nowhere to go!"

He looked at me for a moment; worry playing over his large black face, then he took to wing without another word.

XXXX

It seemed forever before Jeremy returned, but as he landed we all sighed in relief. Martin was there on his back, but he looked shaken as he jumped down saying, "Thanks for the rescue guys."

Jeremy nodded and said quietly "Four of them were at the base of the tree when I got there."

Looking at me, he sighed, "Mrs. Frisby, I always thought I was fairly smart, but I wouldn't have seen that coming. If it hadn't been for Teresa they'd have had him and it would have been my fault! Maybe I should just stay out of this."

As she punched her brother in the arm, Teresa growled "What were you thinking, tadpole brain?

"You saw the blinds and what even you thought was a net. You should have known!"

Martin's ears were turning scarlet and I could see him winding up for a fight as I called "CHILDREN!" holding up my paws for peace.

When they quieted I said, "That's why I always want you working together. You are far smarter than I am, or Jeremy or most others I've met for that matter. Don't fight, think!" Turning to Martin I continued, "You saw and identified the blinds." Turning to Teresa I said, "You saw the net and construction of the blinds as a warning that they would be watching the air. Together you saw all of that."

Their fur settle and they eyed each other with more respect for a moment, then nodded. I smiled as I saw this and asked, "Do you still think the Great Owl can help us?"

Martin nodded slowly "Yea, I'm sure with what you've said that he can help, if he will. I guess it all boils down to if he will and if Mr. Ages is still going to be where we can get to him."

I nodded and turned to Jeremy saying "Jeremy, thank you for saving my son from them. You and I have saved each other's lives, and you just saved my son, and with your help we may be able to save another life as well. That counts for a lot!

"As far as intelligence, you and I can do only so much, and I know my children are smarter than I am. There's no shame in that, but there would be shame if we didn't do our very best with what we have. Please keep helping us. We can't do this without you."

Slowly he nodded saying "When you put it that way Mrs. Frisby, I guess I have no choice if I want to keep my own respect that is, so yea, I'll help.

"We can fly high over the pen this afternoon on our way to see the Great Owl. If he's not in the pen, do you want to come back, or push on to the owl's tree?"

I looked at the children, and then nodded "We don't want to bother the owl without good information. I don't think he would like that, so if Mr. Ages is not there we'll come back and think of something else."

Feeling a thrill and chill at the same time, I asked, "Jeremy, do you think you could carry both Martin and myself?" and saw Martin's eyes light up.

He chuckled "You guys are not that heavy. If there was room, I could likely take all five of you."

XXXX

By evening Martin had recovered from his fright and he and the other children had gone over and over what he'd seen. All this discussion lead to the drawing of a better map, but no better ideas of how we could help Mr. Ages without a visit to the owl.

Martin seemed eager to fly again, but I felt only apprehension as the day drew to evening and we saw Jeremy wheel in for a graceful landing.

Preening a wing and with much of his good humor seemingly restored he asked "You guys ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be" I managed, though my knees had begun to shake.

Martin chuckled and asked "Will we go higher this time Jeremy?"

He laughed "As high as you like buddy."

"That's all right Jeremy" I managed. "We don't want to get to the tree too late and miss the owl."

"Yea, I guess you are right," he said somewhat dejectedly, but brightened and added "but I can take you up a good way on the trip back, high enough to see the lights from the highway" he said with a grin as he knelt to make it easier for us to get to his back.

Martin jumped up and settled in, shifting his pack to a more comfortable spot. Swallowing hard as I climbed up, I found that Jeremy was much wider than I remembered. Ether he had grown a lot more than I thought, or maybe it had just been fear making me feel he was so much smaller on our last trip to the old beech.

"Everyone ready?" he asked looking over his shoulder at us.

I got a good grip on his warm feathers, closed my eyes, and nodded.

Martin laughed "Take us up Jeremy. Let's touch a cloud!"

Jeremy gave a cawing laugh, then I felt him spring into the air with strong beats of his wings.

I could feel him as he wheeled about a bit and knew he was dodging trees bringing my heart into my throat, then he was climbing hard in a straight line and I guessed we were out over the meadow that bordered the Fitzgibbon farm.

Martin was laughing and said "Look Mother, there's the stone next to our winter house!"

I cracked an eye in the strong wind of our passage and sure enough, there it was. It was easy to see the way the garden had been plowed around the stone, and I knew where our home waited safe and sound for us in the fall.

I was shocked to realize my fear was melting away as I looked around at the farmhouse, the barn, the tractor shed, and the new rose garden that had been planted where the old rosebush had stood.

I could see in the evening light where the blackberry bramble was and how Jeremy was slowly wheeling to fly around the backside of the site.

As we neared, I could just make out a brown smear in the bramble as we passed, but little more. We were too high for me to make out any detail, but after a moment I heard Jeremy say, "I see him. He's in the pen again."

Martin yelled back over the wind "We were sure he would be there! They are keeping the trap baited but they may have added more guards!"

Turning deeper into the woods, we raced into the gathering evening.

XXXX

The sky was a deep purple with the westward sky showing a band of red that was slowly fading as we approached the huge old beech and its evergreen attendants. It looked a good bit better today than it had in the early spring. Many of its limbs were covered with ragged blotches of green leaves, but some were still barren.

As the tree grew closer Martin called in a subdued voice "It's bigger than I thought it would be."

I called back "The limb we will be landing on is almost as wide as the brook next to our house."

Jeremy landed almost without a bump on the wide limb that I remembered so well, and we climbed down.

Almost as soon as our feet touched the limb, the deep round voice that had haunted my dreams called from the hole above the limb "Who is there?"

Jeremy called back softly and respectfully "It's me again you're lordship, with my lady friend again, sir, and her son."

There was a harrumph sound, and the voice became gruffer as it all but growled "Names?"

"Jeremy sir" he quickly squeaked, and I felt a shiver pass through him where his leg was pressed against my side.

"And Elizabeth Frisby with my oldest son Martin" I added, pleased at how steady my voice sounded even to my ears.

"Ahhh, the mouse lady" the voice replied in a more civil tone. "I remember you. How is your other son, Timothy if I recall correctly?"

"Quite well sir, and thank you. Your advice was very good."

The deep voice seemed pleased as the Great Owl replied "I saw that they had moved your home into the lee of the stone before the plow came, so I had hoped for the best for you.

"Now, all of you; enter and tell what you have come to me for."

"Me too sir?" asked Jeremy.

"Yes, you too" said the voice, turning somewhat quarrelsome again.

The hole was much as I remembered it. Clean, but the sharp wood fibers that made up the floor were hard on my feet and the warm air a bit musty.

Jeremy hopped over to perch on the edge of the huge bucket sized nest and Martin stayed close at my side, uncharacteristically quiet, as we put the sun to the owls back.

He was just as large as I remembered, but perhaps his feathers were a bit more ragged.

Looking at me with those huge yellow eyes he chuckled "Seems we were here not that long ago, but you are considerably less frightened this time Mrs. Frisby. What can I do for you?"

"Again, it's not for me Sir. This time I've come for Mr. Ages."

"Ages?" he asked in a more interested tone. "I know him well. What seems to be the problem?"

I swallowed "Sir, you know the rats left and there is only so much that we can say about them?"

"I am aware" he replied in his slow deep voice.

"Well, sir, you may know that not all the rats found what Nicodemus wanted to be the proper course. Some of them left early with their own destination in mind."

"I am aware of that as well. But it is none of my business" he replied twisting his head around to squint back out at the gathering gloom.

I continued, "We think sir that those others have returned. It looks like they are digging back into things Nicodemus left unfinished and they have forcibly taken Mr. Ages from his home and are holding him as a prisoner."

The Great Owl's head swiveled back around to look at me "Taken Ages you say?"

I nodded "Yes sir. They left a pair of guards at his home that almost killed me when I dropped by to check on him."

He grumbled "Mr. Ages has been a friend to all for years, since….. well for some time."

Turning to Jeremy he asked, "Have you taken the oath?"

Jeremy seemed flustered as he replied "Oath sir? Me sir? What sort of oath would that be?"

The owl sighed as he replied, "I am sorry, but you must wait outside while we talk. Should Mrs. Frisby wish to share with you after we are finished, that would be no concern of mine, but I take my oaths quite seriously."

Turning to me he asked as he leaned forward "And your son?"

I shook my head "He has not taken the oath, but he is of NIMH as you know. I have told him about the rats as its part of his birthright and heritage."

The owl watched us silently for a few moments, then nodded saying "So be it then."

When Jeremy, looking very dejected, went to stand far out on the limb, the owl turned to us and said, "Now, tell me everything you know."

I spun the story of what had happened to me, and what we thought had happened to Mr. Ages, and for the first time since the two-day ice storm five years ago, the Great Owl was late from his nest.

End Chapter 2


	3. Echoes of the past

**Chapter 3**

_**Echoes of the past.**_

The Great Owl listened to first me, then Martin, asking many questions of my son.

When the questions were all answered, he sat and just watched us for some time. All we could see of him by now was a shadow that seemed as immovable as stone while outside the world was alight with silvery moonlight and fireflies.

Finally he said "I see no way you and your friend Jeremy will be able to successfully free Mr. Ages without suffering loss."

I asked softly "Is there no hope for him then?"

"Hope?" he rumbled. "There is always hope, but your son was right. You will require more help than you have if you wish to free Mr. Ages successfully. Speed and shock will be the key."

Turning to the hole, he hopped out on the limb and stretched his wings.

Jeremy called plaintively "Are you done yet?" from where he was hunkered down in a small knot of dark leaves some distance down the limb.

The owl answered, "Done? No. Not done, but finished for the moment."

Martin and I came out on the limb behind the owl and he turned his head about to look at us over his shoulder saying "Mrs. Frisby, if you wish, I will take you to someone that may be willing to help you, then I will speak to another that I believe owes Mr. Ages a life debt and will try to arrange a collaboration. What say you?"

I swallowed hard and finally found my voice saying "Thank you, sir. I will accept any help you're willing to give."

The owl fluffed out his feathers, then said in his deep round voice "Very well. Climb onto my back and be sure to get a good grip. I fly much more swiftly than your friend. Your son should go home with him while we finish our business."

I looked at the hulking bird before me with is crewel claws and sharp beak and felt fear. I had no idea where he would take me, but he seemed to be an animal of honor. Besides, what choice did I have if I wanted to help Mr. Ages?

Screwing up my courage, I turned to Martin and told him in a soft voice "Tell Jeremy what you think he should know. I'll be home as soon as I can."

Martin nodded once, and I saw something that I had never seen in my son's eyes, fear for my safety. He was trying hard to hide it, so I pretended not to notice to save his pride.

The owl rumbled enigmatically "Our business will not take long, but you may wish to take more time. Now hurry, I grow hungry."

Not wanting to anger the owl and knowing that mice were one of his menu items, I hugged Martin once, then scampered up on the owl's enormous back and got a good grip on several of his huge feathers.

Without further words, he jumped off of the limb and suddenly and silently we were flying! When Jeremy flew he did so like he spoke and thought, seemingly in many directions at one time and with much wasted energy. The Great Owl in contrast flew like he thought a spoke. No wasted movements or energy, but there was a feeling of great power harnessed to his will and available at need.

Silently he gained altitude and spiraled out from his tree where I saw Jeremy take wing heading for home, hopefully.

The Great Owl seemed to be searching for something in the dark trees below. Perhaps a quarter of an hour passed, then his head moved to one side and seemed to lock on something below. He flew in a circle after that but his eyes never left what he had found in a young oak as he started down into the gray shadows.

Without a sound we landed on a limb next to another smaller owl with sleek plumage that greeted him with a bow of its head saying "Greetings Father. What may I do for you?"

The Great Owl replied "You can listen to this lady mouse I deliver into your safe keeping. I believe you have a few common acquaintances."

The other owl craned its head around so it could see me. Its enormous yellow eyes studied me for a few moments flashing like molten gold in the moonlight before it sighed, "Why do I imagine I'm not going to like this?"

The Great Owl turned his head around and looked down at me where I was still clinging to his back saying, "You may get down now. I will return after I have eaten and spoken to the other I mentioned. Depending on his decisions we will decide what to do at that time."

I got down onto a limb that was only about a foot across, and as I turned to face the strange owl, the Great Owl silently left the limb and disappeared into the darkness.

Before I could speak the other owl asked "What is your name little mouse?"

"Elizabeth, but my last name seems to be known in this wood. That is Frisby."

I was a bit shocked as the owl I now realized was a female bowed to me and said in a voice filled with respect "Elizabeth Frisby, I am pleased to meet you! My name is Emtah of Beachwood and I owe my life to your mate."

I was taken aback anew by this and asked "Your life? You knew Jonathan!?"

She nodded "Six years ago when I was little more than a hatchling I found the Fitzgibbon's rubbish heap an irresistible place to find food and investigate the mysteries of humanity. It was there that I had an unfortunate encounter with a mass of tangled fishing line. It was nearly invisible and I only became aware of it when it became tangled about my foot. I tried to bite through the line, but it was far too strong. I tried pulling my foot free, but that only tightened it. I then tried to pull myself free by taking flight, but the other end was firmly tangled and I crashed back to the ground and rolled the stuff about me. I finely ended up with it wrapping my beak and choking me as well as tangling my feet and a wing.

"That was how your mate found me, hopelessly tangled, strangling, more than half dead. I'd been there for two long weary days and was sure there was no hope as father never flies over the farm. I lacked the strength to drive Dragon off if he came again and if Paul had come with a can of trash, I knew he would kill me as well," she said with a shiver.

"Jonathan watched me for some time, then came up as bold as brass and said 'I'll help you but you must not eat me. We all help each other against the cat and I ask you to honor this.'"

"All I could do was nod. I was too tangled and spent to do anything else.

"The line was too strong for him to chew through as well, but his paws were quick and his eyes sharp. Soon he managed to get the line out of my mouth and slowly worked my legs and wing free by untying the many knots, but I was too weak to fly when he was done.

"He brought me food and water for a day, till I was strong enough to fly.

"As soon as I was able, I flew to father and told him about the mouse that saved my life" she said shivering again.

After a moment she continued "That act of kindness was one of the reasons father agreed to listen to and meet with Nicodemus when he came to him. Your mate's actions, and the friendship that grew between father and Nicodemus are the prime reasons that father forbade the hunting of mice or rats on the Fitzgibbon farm for all owls in his domain."

Emtah made an odd sound that I took for a chuckle as she added "From what father says; you seem to have something in common with your mate when it comes to saving birds from entanglement."

Now it was my turn to laugh, "I guess so, but my friend Jeremy was trying to pick up the string and was just too stubborn to leave it rather than getting tangled by accident, and he was much less of a challenge to help."

"True" she agreed "but crows can be just as dangerous to a mouse should they so choose. But I digress, how may I help you?"

"Do you know of Mr. Ages?" I asked guessing at the meaning of the word digress.

She again gave the chuckling sound "Oh yes, I know him. He was not in favor of what Jonathan did for me at the time, and…. Well, let's just say he doesn't think helping me was such a mistake now and leave it at that."

This seemed a bit easier than I had expected and Emtah more personable, so I pushed on "What I came to the Great Owl for is that Mr. Ages seems to have been taken captive and I would like help to free him. The Great Owl seemed to think you would be able to provide some of that help."

"Who has taken him, and to where? No one I know would knowingly harm him" she stated in surprise.

I sighed, "To answer that I must ask you a question. What do you know of Nicodemus and the rats that lived in the rose bush?"

Emtah was silent for some time as she stood watching me with those huge yellow eyes. Finally she said, "The rats that lived in the rose bush are gone, and they will likely never come back. If your friend was taken by them, he is likely very far away by now and you will never see him again." She cocked her head and added "But Father should have known that, so there must be more to this."

I sighed, "That's the problem. We don't think it was the ones that left in the spring that took him, but some that left early in the winter that have returned and are now reopening the nest."

She looked at me for a long time this time before asking, "Do you know the word NIMH?"

I nodded "Yes, Nicodemus told me about NIMH, and it seems you know about it too."

Emtah sighed, "I know about it. Jonathan told me a little of it, and Father took me to visit Nicodemus once to tell him what I knew about the deep parts of the Thorn Forest. Back then I would fly many miles back into the mountains just for the fun and adventure and he thought my knowledge would be useful to the rats. He told me more."

She cocked her head "I am assuming that the rats you speak of were the ones that left just after Jonathan did. I understand that Nicodemus looked for them for some time."

I nodded "Yes they left in the…" and I found myself stopped in my tracks as I went over what she had said again in my mind. Gathering my wits I said, "Jonathan didn't leave Emtah. I'm sorry to tell you that Dragon…. killed him last fall just before Jenner left."

The owl cocked her head and asked "Did he not leave a note for you to let you know? He said he had, in your winter home, though from your reaction I would guess he did not."

"Let me know? Know what!?" I asked as my heart starting to hammer in my chest and spots drifted before my eyes.

For a moment she was silent, then Emtah said softy "I don't know if I should be the one to tell you this, but Jonathan Frisby did not die while putting the sleeping power in Dragon's food, though that was what he said he wanted the rats to think."

Feeling my head spinning and the breath tingling in my chest, I demanded, though faintly "H… How could you know what happened?"

Emtah answered quietly "Because I helped him fool everyone. I picked him up from the roof of the Fitzgibbon's farmhouse that night. He asked me to set him down at the foot of the drive, but after I divined his needs, I carried him well away from the farm and the rats, almost to the highway. He said he could find his way from there."

Feeling faint I asked "Find his way where Emtah?"

Looking away into the dark forest she answered softly "Back to NIMH, though he did so with great fear."

I could only stand and goggle at her as she continued "He said that Nicodemus and the others refused to help him. They also forbid him to go, and even started watching him to make sure he didn't try to go on his own. Nicodemus even threatened to imprison him if he persisted, saying it would be for his safety as well as that of the colony.

"When he had exhausted all other possibilities, he came to me requesting my aid. I owed him, so I agreed to help in his plan to get away without anyone knowing or seeing because he could never outrun a hunting party of rats."

Finding my voice I asked "So, he was still alive when you last saw him!?"

She looked back at me and nodded "The last I saw of him he was quite alive and contemplating how he would board one of the big human trucks, though he didn't come back when he said to expect him. He told me that he didn't believe he would be any later than the New Year and to stop looking for him if he wasn't back by the spring thaw."

Sniffing back tears, the anger I'd bottled up from the time I'd learned what I thought was the truth came forward and I snarled in anguish "Why did he leave me! Why did he abandon his family! I thought he loved us!"

Though the questions were not really for her, Emtah leaned in close and replied "Though it was none of my business, I value love and family so I asked the same thing. He said it was because he loved you and his family so much that he was doing this. He was willing to risk his life not to see you all wither and die before his eyes. He went to bring you and your children the same treatments that made him what he was.

"Perhaps I should have said nothing. Perhaps I should have left you thinking that he had died at Dragon's paws, but at this point I doubt that the truth escaping could hurt anyone. I also think you deserve to know that if he is dead, as I suspect, that he died not serving the rats needs in drugging a cat, but rather in trying to provide for his family."

All I could do at this point was cover my eyes and weep, but the tears were not as bitter as some I had shed. It was a bit of a comfort to discover that we had been the center of Jonathan's life, not just a piece to be hidden away. From the time I'd learned of his dual life and that he had apparently given his all for the side he had never shown me, I'd felt somehow cheated. I was still stung that he hadn't told me about NIHM, but I felt that I could understand.

After a time, Emtah finally said softly "I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, but I value truth, and thought you should know to help you understand the rats and your mate a bit more."

I wiped my eyes on my arm and still sniffling said softly "Thank you Emtah. As much as it hurts, knowing does help patch a small part of the huge hole Jonathan left in my heart."

She sighed saying "I think Father knew I would end up telling you if I could. That's why he left you here and took off so fast." She chuckled slightly "He never could stand what he calls "soft stuff", and female tears are the only thing in this world I know he truly fears."

My sniffles turned to wet burbly laughs as I tried to picture the Great Owl running from anything.

When my laughter faded, Emtah said "To business. I believe you were telling me in a roundabout way that Jenner's people have returned and taken Mr. Ages?"

I nodded, glad to be able to change the subject and tell her all, and I did. When I finished, she sat silently for some time, just like her father when he thought, then said "We shall see what Father has to say when he gets back.

"Nap if you wish Mrs. Frisby. I have already eaten and will watch over you as I think."

I nodded my thanks, but I had much to think about as well. Should I tell the children? Should I hope against hope that there was some way that Jonathan could still be alive and should I go looking for him? All these things swirled in my mind as I sat and waited, but eventually the trials of the day and the silence worked their mischief on me, and I dozed.

XXXX

Several hours must have passed when Emtah finally woke me saying "Rouse little one. Father is back and we have a plan."

Blinking and shaking sleep from my head I found that the Great Owl was indeed back and that he and Emtah had been examining the map. He looked down at me and said in his deep voice "One of those that have profited by their relationship with Mr. Ages has agreed to help.

"The two of you are to meet with the fox Shadoweyes tomorrow at sunset. He will be at the north corner post of the garden on the Fitzgibbon farm. Shadoweyes has agreed to act to break up the guards and Emtah has agreed to snatch Mr. Ages from the pen and take him where you will."

Leaning in a bit more he said "I would strongly suggest that you move out of your summer home no later than the morning after your rescue attempt Mrs. Frisby. This action will undoubtedly make the rats rather less than happy and they will expend more energy looking for you, if your activities have not already induced them to do so."

Clutching my paws to my chest I said gratefully "Thank you, thank you both, but where should I and my family go? The garden will be to busy to be safe this time of year."

Emtah answered "It's hard for us to make a suggestion for mice, but I would suggest that you consider the old thrashing machine. It has not been moved in many years and as far as I know there is nothing living there at the moment. It is inside our no hunting zone and I do not recall seeing rats around it for a few years."

I knew it and said "It's a long way from water, but there is good cover. I'll inspect it tomorrow."

The Great Owl rumbled "Then I will take you home Mrs. Frisby for you only have a few hours till morning. Climb up on my back and direct me" he ordered.

Saying my thanks again, and agreeing to meet Emtah at sunset as well, we were off for home.

XXXX

The children were sleeping when I arrived, and hardly moved as I climbed into the bed for a few hours of sleep.

XXXX

When I woke it was to find that Martin was shaking me saying softly but urgently "MOM! We've got to go!"

"Go?" I blinked, trying to gather my wooly thoughts.

He hissed "Jeremy says that the rats are coming!"

I scrambled to my feet and saw Teresa, Timothy, and Cynthia were quickly stuffing food and cloaks into the packs we had made, and glancing fearfully to the door where morning sun streamed in.

Martin said as he went to take the pack that Cynthia was holding out to him "We need to go now! Jeremy said he saw rats ripping up the Nesting's summer house and some are coming this way! He's trying to draw them off and buy us some time!"

Timothy tossed me my pack as he started packing his own saying "Any idea where we should go Mother?"

I was still half asleep, but my mind went back to the previous night and I said "The old thrashing machine. If we get separated, all of us should meet up there!"

We stepped cautiously out of the house, and my first impulse was to run to the left along the stream away from the sound of the raid on the Nesting's home.

Holly, her mate, and five children dashed through the clearing before our house and she yelled as they passed "Run! The rats are attacking!"

Swallowing my fear I growled to my children "They're trying to drive us! Come on, stay close and stay quiet!" I hissed as I dashed instead to the stream that made a good barrier for most of its length.

Going just past the waterfall, we dropped down the embankment and did what no other mice would do. We swam across the stream at its shallow point below the falls where the big fish that lived in the deeper quieter water would not go.

Staying in the tall grass on the other side, we climbed the embankment, and then worked our way back up stream till we were parallel with our summer house with nearly four feet of deep water between us. There I found a good blind we could hide in but still see our home.

Looking at my children's faces, I could see that all were frightened, but Martin's held a hint of anger and defiance as well. I whispered softly, "We should be safe here, and we'll see what we can see, but stay quiet no matter what happens" I ordered, making sure my eye lingered on Martin longer than any of the others.

They nodded and hunkered down, and Martin seemed to understand and subsided as well.

It wasn't long before five rats came out of the brush from the direction of the Nesting's home. They were pounding sticks on the ground and rattling the grass with them while they called loudly to each other in harsh voices. The four of them that were making the noise were strong but ragged looking strangers in stained and ripped blue tunics, but the fifth I knew. Sleek, well groomed, and in a clean blue tunic, May was carrying a long stick with a pointed bit of sharpened metal on the end that glistened in the morning sun as she looked about. The last time I'd seen one of those was in the paws of Brutus when I'd tried to enter the rat's nest and he had driven me out.

I heard her call as she pointed the stick at our front door "Veris, check that house!" and one of the ragged rats ran over to the door and eagerly poked its nose in. That was all that the rat could get between the roots that made up our door. Pulling its head back out it said "Nothin here now May, but not long gone from the smell. Not long. They be running like the last ones!"

One of the other rats asked "You think the bird come back?"

She laughed "I doubt it. I just wish I'd been able to get a better poke at it. I bet cooked up he'd taste just like a bucket of Original Recipe!"

They all laughed harshly, and then stared along the stream again making noise as they went.

When they were gone Martin whispered angrily "Do you think they hurt Jeremy?"

I swallowed hard and answered "Could be, but I hope not."

Looking up, I scanned the sky for a familiar black spot, but there was nothing there.

Timothy said after a moment "What should we do Mom? Leave for the thrasher, or hunt for Jeremy?"

Martin asked just as softly "Do you think he would go back to his nest if he's hurt?"

I shook my head "I don't know, but it's a place to start. We'll wait for a few minutes, then we'll try to get to his nest. If he's not there, we'll head for the thrasher and I'll lay out my cloak. If he sees it, he'll know we are there and will come to us."

Martin added softly what we were all thinking "If he can."

XXXX

We arrived at Jeremy's tree after about an hour of carful travel. We didn't see any other rats, but we did end up taking a rather long detour around a raccoon looking for crayfish in the stream.

As we approached I could see the nest some twenty feet off the ground and there was a black shape in it. I called softly "Jeremy, is that you?"

The shape moved, a head poked over the edge and a familiar voice squawked "Mrs. Frisby?"

"Yes, it's me. Are you OK?" I called back.

There was a delay before he answered "Um, no not really. One of the rats stabbed me with a stick. It was bleeding bad, but it's slowed up now."

I swallowed hard as I looked up calling softly "I'm coming up there Jeremy."

Turning to the children I said as I swung my pack from my back "Get me moss and spider webs, but be careful if you go down wind. The smell of blood could bring unwanted guests."

The kids scattered as I emptied my pack, then examined the tree as I waited. They had built their nest in a birch. It was an older tree and the bark offered good paw and foot holds, but I'd need to be careful. The bark could easily give way if I got too cocky and didn't check carefully before trusting my weight to it.

In a few minutes the children returned with bits of web, and Cynthia had a large slab of the right kind of moss that was just dry enough to use.

After checking the ingredients over and making sure the moss didn't have any dirt in it, I carefully put everything in my pack, then slipped it back over my shoulders.

Turning to Martin I said "I want you to get the family to the thrasher while I do what I can for Jeremy. Hopefully I'll only be an hour or so behind you, but don't worry if I don't get there till very late. I have a meeting with some….. other friends, and I can't be late."

Martin nodded as the other children started to protest.

I held up my paw and said "This is not open for debate! I want the four of you safe so I can do what I must without worrying about you!"

They quieted as Martin dug out his map of the pen and blinds around it saying "I'm guessing you'll need this?"

I put it with my cloak saying with a smile "You guess right."

He gave a nod and grinned before I pulled him and the others in and gave them each a hug and a kiss. Cynthia was starting to cry as I told them "Get going, and try not to worry too much."

Teresa sniffled a bit and said softy "Don't take any chances Mom. We need you."

I gave her what I hoped would be a reassuring smile, then said "Get going you four" before I started up the tree.

XXXX

The climb wasn't hard, just tedious. Several times I ran into loose sections of bark, but getting around them wasn't that hard.

Finally I was able to climb over the edge of the nest and found Jeremy, and was horrified! The nest and feathers on his left side were scarlet with splattered blood.

"Oh Jeremy!" I cried as I looked at the gore and shivered.

He gave a wan smile saying "Sorry about the mess."

It took a moment for me to gather my wits, but when I did I swallowed hard and ordered "Show me."

He slowly and carefully lifted a wing and I could see a gaping cut in his breast that started to bleed freely again at his movement. He said softly "It hurts a lot, Elizabeth" and I noticed his eyes were a bit glazed.

Quickly taking my pack from my back, I got out the moss and webs and said "I'll do what I can for now, but this will take more than I can do. We need Ages!"

Jeremy sighed "Yea, I kind of thought you'd say that.

"Look, tell Carri and chicks I love them" he said between grimaces and groans as I worked.

Looking up, I said "You can do that you're self. I'm getting Ages this evening. You just hang on. If you don't move around, you shouldn't bleed, OK?"

He nodded tiredly and I could see he was ashen around his eyes as he said "I don't think I could do much more than just sit here."

I nodded back and did what I could to clean up some of the blood.

When I was done, I kissed him on the cheek saying "Just rest as easy as you can my friend. With the owl's help I'll have Mr. Ages back for you as soon as I possibly can and he'll fix you up."

Jeremy set his head down on the edge of the nest with a sigh saying "Just don't be too long."

I replied softly as I climbed out of the nest "The best I can promise is sometime just after dark."

The trip back down the tree was far harder than the climb as I was obliged to back down and had to depend on feel alone. I had a few bad moments and my fingers and toes were badly scraped by time I was down, but I made it.

On the ground, I cleaned the blood off as best I could, and packed my pack back up. It was still a bit before noon, so I headed not for the thrasher, but rather our old winter house. If there was a note left there, I intended to find it!

XXXX

It was swelteringly hot in the loft of the barn as I crossed the weathered and scarred deck planks to the back. It seemed strange to be here in the heat of summer, and that the place was empty of bails of straw.

Coming to the knothole in the back wall planking, I listened, sniffed, and when I was sure there was no one there, finally squeezed through. Behind the plank was a small drop into a dimly lighted space a few inches wide and a few feet long between the inner and outer walls. The space seemed just as we had left it over a year ago. We'd piled straw, bits of cloth and feathers inside to insulate and make it comfortable, and it all appeared undisturbed. As I looked about, I felt swamped by emotions. Memories both good and bad flooded back of my time here with Jonathan. Cynthia had been born right there, and Timothy took his first steps here, and there's where Jonathan and I had slept.

Shaking my head to clear the swirl of memories, I started looking around. The bedding was empty, as was the dusty corner were we had stored food. I felt along the cracks between the walls and floor, checked the walls as far up as I could reach, but found nothing. Had someone wintered here and found the note? Had Jonathan even left a note? It was beginning to look like I would never know.

With a sigh, I laid down in what had been our bed to rest after my long fruitless search, and when I looked up, I saw something. Nearly at the top of the gap in the walls, a bit of string was hanging down. It wasn't long, just a scrap tied to the old bent nail, but it hadn't been there the last time I'd been here.

It wasn't an easy climb to where the string dangled, but when I arrived I found the nail had split the wood and there was a bit of paper shoved into the crack!

Carefully I worked the paper out, hardly daring to believe that it could be from Jonathan!

When I was back on the floor, I carefully unfolded the paper and discovered it was a letter and slowly and painfully went to work reading in the dim light:

_My dearest Elizabeth,_

_I'm sorry to tell you this way, but I am not dead and did not just leave you. My only thoughts, my love, are and always have been for you and our children._

_When we nearly lost Timothy to the spider this summer, it came to me that I would rather not live if I could not do so with you and our children, so I am undertaking a dangerous venture that holds the promise of a much better and longer life for you all. _

_I cannot go into the details now as I have been forbidden to by certain powers. If they were to discover that I had told you the things I want to about what and why, they could make life for you and the children difficult, or worse. _

_You should be safe by now as I have been gone for a month or more depending on the weather and your curiosity, but be wary of anyone telling you that they are my friend and have come to help you._

_If a rat named Justin comes to see you, you can trust him. He is a friend, but tell even him nothing of this letter, and have hope! I should see you around the shortest day of the year._

_Your loving, _

_Jonathan_

As the tears dripped from my whiskers, I folded the letter with shaking paws and put it in my pack. Had I not found the cinderblock last fall I would have returned here for the winter and found this letter, and its false hope. Now it was like an echo from the past, and the hopeful ending ripped at my heart with dull claws.

I left the barn still silently weeping, but with no time to give in to my grief. As I had last fall, I put my pain aside for those that needed me in the here and now and headed to the garden guided by the setting sun.

End Chapter 3


	4. Not quite the A Team

Chapter 4 _Not quite the A Team._

The setting sun was a crimson stain on the horizon as I arrived at the corner post of the garden patch. In the distance I could hear Dragon crying to be let in as the last birds of the day squawked and fussed for the best roosting spaces.

Nearer to hand I found a red/brown shape snuggled down into the deep grass outside of the garden fence. While I could easily pass through that cattle fencing around the garden, the shape on the other side would find it an effective barrier.

Screwing up my courage, I called "Are you Shadoweyes?"

I saw the sharp featured head come up and look around before the fox answered, "You may call me that. Be you Mrs. Frisby?"

"I am" I replied trying hard not to let my fear creep into my voice.

The fox nodded "I be pleased to speak with you. I knew your mate and the one named Ages. They helped when I stepped on a thorn as a kit and it started smelling wrong."

I smiled and feeling my courage build a bit replied, "I never knew Jonathan had so many friends."

There was a chirp of laughter from the fox before he answered "I knew not that mice could be more than a toy or meal before meeting them."

A blast of air washed over us as Emtah landed on the post above saying "I see you two have met. Are we ready to move?"

Looking up, I could see her squinting down at me in the failing light and said "Jeremy said they take Mr. Ages in at sunset, so we should move quickly."

Turning, I asked, "Shadoweyes, have you seen the map?"

He snorted "Map? What need I with a map for so simple a thing? They are in big bramble near rock at edge of woods yes? I will jump into middle of rats there, and any that not run fast enough, I eat. You get friend Ages, I get easy meal. No problems" he finished with a chuckle that sent shivers down my spine.

Emtah was silent for a moment, then said "Perhaps you should get into position Shadoweyes, I will give you ten minutes."

The fox looked up at her and asked, "What is minutes?"

Emtah sighed, "Let's just say as soon as the last of the sun is gone, or if they start to move Ages, I will grab him and you can attack. Is that good for you?"

The fox nodded and without another word jumped to his feet and was gone as if he had never been there.

Emtah sighed and asked "Would you like to fly with me, or should I just bring Mr. Ages back to you?"

The easy way out sounded good to me, but I thought perhaps I should go to let Mr. Ages know that he was being rescued, and not about to become a snack. Poor fellow could have a heart failure if he suddenly found himself in the talons of an owl! So I finally said "I'll go with you to reassure Mr. Ages, if you don't mind."

"I do not mind" she replied. "Now climb up here quickly and get a good grip. The day is nearly spent."

I scrambled up the post and getting between her wings, got a grip near the base of four feathers and tried to ready myself.

If Jeremy's flying was all frenetic energy, and the Great Owl's energy harnessed to the will of a great mind, Emtah's was energy utilized on a grand scale!

When she leapt from the post and started beating for altitude; it almost ripped me free and did take my breath away! Here was all the Great Owls power harnessed not by will and tempered by age, but rather amplified by youth and expressed in pure joy!

In moments we were high above the farm, and silently circling back over the tree line where the bramble grew.

Emtah called softly over the whisper of the wind "Shadoweyes is there and moving up from downwind to where I see Ages. There are five rats there, four well hidden, and the fifth heading to the pen. It is carrying a stick tipped with metal."

I called back "Watch out for that one! Likely it's May and that stick can hurt you!"

The last glimmers of light failed, and suddenly I was weightless in the dark and clinging for dear life to Emtah's feathers! Branches zoomed silently by and suddenly I was slammed into Emtah's back so hard it nearly knocked the breath from me as squeals of alarm and pain started all around us!

As my eyes adjusted, I caught a glimpse of a large dark shape that had to be Shadoweyes shaking his head and suddenly one of those squeals was cut off!

I heard someone yelling, "Forget the bird and fox! Kill the mouse!" as we suddenly rocketed back into the darkening sky!

I yelled, "Do you have Mr. Ages!" and got two replies. One, breathing somewhat heavily said "Yes, I have him!" the other on the edge of panic called "Mrs. Frisby, is that you?! Thank the gods!"

I called back "Just hang on Mr. Ages! You're safe now!"

Emtah said as she leveled off "Mr. Ages, when I loosen my grip, I want you to climb up my leg. I will need my feet to land and do not wish to crush you."

I could hear some grunting from below me and after a moment Ages called "Is this good?"

Emtah replied "Just fine. Hold on, I'm landing…. now."

With hardly a bump, we landed on the post where we had started only minutes earlier, and like that the impossible was done.

I crawled down and found a very rumpled and rail-thin Mr. Ages waiting for me in the darkening night. Emtah looked down and said, "I will go now. I wish you well Mr. Ages, and you most of all Mrs. Frisby."

Looking up at her dark shape I said "Thank you for everything Emtah, and I found that letter."

Ages was smoothing the white fur on his head and shoulders as he added "You have my thanks as well Emtah, though I may still faint at any moment!"

The owl gave that chuckle of hers as she nodded to me saying "Not often is it that I do not dine on the mice I catch, and I am rather enjoying the novelty of this."

Ages gave her a hard look that seemed to be totally lost on the owl as she looked down at us. After a moment she looked up at the sky saying, "Be well little ones. Time to hunt!" and with that she took to the star-filled sky again on silent wings.

Mr. Ages turned to me after the darkness swallowed her and said in a voice far less gruff than normal "Well, you seem to have repaid me many times over for helping your son, and I now find myself deeply in your debt Mrs. Frisby. Thank you."

I felt myself blush and stammered "You're welcome."

Then I remembered Jeremy and asked, "Are you well enough to see someone?"

He sighed and gave one of his almost smiles as he said "Mrs. Frisby, I am bruised, battered, and half starved, but right now, I don't think I could deny you anything. What do you need?"

I told him of Jeremy and what had happened. He quickly agreed to look at him saying, "I'll need a few things. I would rather have the tools from my home, but I understand it is being watched. Instead we'll visit Mr. Fitzgibbon's barn and gather some things from the emergency medical kit he keeps there."

With that we left for the barn.

XXXX

Mr. Ages told me as we traveled that nearly two weeks ago he had answered his door to a familiar voice. It sounded to him like a rat named Rachel that had left for Thorn Valley with the others. When he peeked out to check, he indeed could see her standing there looking frightened. Opening the door he found that she was not alone. A blade snaked in and was under his chin in a flash from another rat standing on the steps out of sight from inside.

He was hustled up to the clearing behind his house where a young rat named Malcolm waited. He told Mr. Ages he had taken over Jenner's group after Jenner died in a fire, and he wanted Mr. Ages to make poisons and sleeping powers to control or kill Dragon.

Mr. Ages refused suspecting from some of the things he heard that the next step would be for him to kill the Fitzgibbons and he knew what kind of interest that would bring from the human authorities.

Malcolm was enraged by his refusal and ordered May, the captain of his guard, to "Play" with Mr. Ages while he looked for recipes among Ages' papers. Her play nearly killed Ages before Malcolm stopped her and that was why she had been ordered to watch his home rather than return to where they were digging back into the nest.

That was where I came into the situation. May had returned after our encounter and informed them that I'd made an appearance and that I could likely be used as a lever to force Ages cooperation. So Mr. Ages was dangled as bait for me in the evenings, while May and her guards were also actively hunting for me during the day.

They had expected to catch me easily. As I was what they called a lower animal, I wasn't expected to put up much of a fight or be hard to find. They were even ready for Jeremy having seen us working together, but the strength we were able to muster with the help of the Great Owl had been far more than they had expected, and it easily broke their trap.

Ages shook his head as he walked and concluded by saying "I wasn't able to talk to Rachel after they took me, but I'm sure she left with the others for Thorn Valley and was not part of Jenner's group. I have no clue how she ended up in their hands but it doesn't bode well."

The moon was riding high when we arrived at the barn, and both of us were exhausted. I from a long hard day and Mr. Ages ill treatment and little food, so I guess our guard was down a bit.

We were just getting ready to enter the open side door when suddenly with a horrific screech that froze my blood; Dragon pounced from behind! Perhaps it had been his speaking that drew Dragon's attention, or maybe his white fur moving through the grass had been a better trigger than my somewhat formless shape under the cape, we'll never know. Whatever it was one moment we were walking carefully along, the next I was batted aside and the huge bulk of Dragon was crouched over Mr. Ages!

I watched dazed and helpless as crewel claws pinned him to the ground and Dragon hissed in a gloating singsong voice "Can you run, meat? I think not." With an evil chuckle, he opened his mouth to deliver the bite of death, but then things occurred so quickly that later I could hardly recall what happened. A growl so deep it seemed to shake the ground around me came from the dark doorway of the barn and when I looked I could see moonlight reflecting from huge eyes! First there were just two sets, one low and green the other yellow, high up, and wide apart. Then three more, then six, then more, all at different levels and widths apart!

A voice as deep as the sea growled out "Cat, leave the mouse or die!"

Dragon looked up from his prospective meal and his fur puffed out in fear and his tail grew to more than five times its original size! With a squall, he bolted and disappeared into the darkness accompanied by the crashing of headlong headless flight.

I was mesmerized by those eyes as they approached and resolved into the face of a dog. A rather large dog that was looking right at me! Then next to it came a cat, then another cat with a mouse on its shoulders. Finally came a specter from my hopes and dreams. From the darkness stepped Jonathan Frisby and suddenly my battered mind had had enough and I found myself plunging into darkness!

End of Part 1

End Chapter 4


	5. Trouble and reward

Part 2. The Second Escape from NIMH Chapter 5 _Trouble and reward._

I woke from a disturbing dream about Elizabeth being chased by dark unseen things to a voice whispering, "Dad says, like, you need to come to the lab now Jonathan."

I cracked an eye and found I may as well not have bothered. It was nearly as black as pitch in my part of the nest and, even to the eyes of a mouse, Amanda was only an indistinct shape. The distant fans were slowly moving cool air that smelled faintly of dust, and I could just hear the slight tapping of Amanda's claws on the metal of the ductwork as she shifted her weight in agitation. She was ether excited or worried, or both, and that rekindled worries finally vanished in sleep. '_Is he back and what did he find?' _I wondered in a flash of fear that drove away the last fog of sleep.

Pushing aside the scraps of cloth that made up my bed, I got to my feet and felt about for my cloak and belt of magnets that was such a necessity outside of the nest, while asking, "Did Ter say what was going on?"

Amanda's soft voice replied, "Only that I should find you and let you know that something BIG is going on. There's activity in the lab, and he thinks Dr. Schultz is back from what the workers were saying. He thinks, like, they may be bringing in some prisoners!" she replied with excitement coloring her youthful voice. For her it would be the first chance to meet an outsider besides myself, but for me that statement was something else altogether; considering where Schultz had been.

I gave a worried grunt while closing my cloak clasp made of a bit of discarded plastic and settling the belt of twine and the magnets over my shirt and battered black tunic to a more comfortable place. Kitted up and ready, I started up the metal vent duct with Amanda close at my side.

Our nest in the smaller ducts wasn't far from the main basement trunk, and once we turned into it, we began the long climb to the fourth floor with a steady wind in our faces. The air conditioning system of what was now building Twelve of the NIMH complex had been bewildering when it was new, but now nearly a decade later with all the patching and renovations, it would have been almost impossible for someone without a guide or long knowledge to navigate. As we walked along making turns from memory and feel, I asked softly "Is your dad still up there, and did he have any idea who may have been brought in?"

She replied just as quietly "He said he was going back up to continue listening after reporting to Leana. As far as who, no he didn't know."

"Do you know the time?" I asked as we used a rope ladder made of kite string and toothpicks to work our way up a vertical section of duct with the air whispering through our whiskers. I figured it had to be late as I didn't feel rested, most of the vents we past were dim or dark, and the fans pulling air through the ducts all seemed to be running at low speed.

Amanda replied, "Somewhere just past 2:00 AM, I'd guess."

We walked in silence after that, saving our breath for the hard climbing ahead as we felt our way up the dark ductwork.

XXXX

Finally we came to the fourth floor and turned into a smaller section of ducting I knew well. After several more twists and turns we came to a section of duct were we heard the deep and echoing, but still indistinct, voices of humans, and they got louder the closer we approached our destination.

As we arrived at the first brightly lighted vents we'd seen, we found someone already there crouched near the first vent to the lab. The shape turned our direction and set my mind to ease by saying softly "I don't think she's with them Jonathan. All I smell and heard them speaking of are rats."

Terrance, or Ter as I'd called him since we'd been prisoners in the lab cabinet years ago, was dressed as his daughter and I in a dark cloak and tunic to blur our outlines to anyone that noticed something in the vent, but the face Ter turned to me was not like ours. During the original escape he and the other mice not grabbed by the rats had been sucked back down the ducts by a fan that shifted speed just as we got to a roof intake. The fan accounted for most of the mice except for Ages and myself one way or another as it drew them in, and he had fallen face first into the blades. That untimely meeting had left him blind, less two fingers, and missing an ear. His tan face fur was lumpy where it had grown back over his scars and chipped bones, and he wore a bandage tied about his eyes to protect the empty sockets.

Amanda nuzzled her father's cheek and asked softly "Who are the humans papa?"

He replied just loud enough to be heard over the air passing into the vent and the murmuring human voices "Only two now, Dr. Schultz and Julie just arrived. The others left after bringing in some cages and being ordered to place them on the lab table. They've been talking mostly about what Schultz found in the nest in Hampton and the two rats captured there. They only mentioned two other captives taken at the Fitzgibbon farm once. Schultz seems to think they are not modified, but because of their size and good health he had Julie take blood from them anyway."

Staying low and setting my magnets salvaged from a discarded toy motor against any sudden pickup of the fans, I looked down and out into the lab. It was far smaller than the one Dr. Schultz had on the ground floor back when he'd been experimenting on us. His lack of major presentable success had reduced his funding a good deal over the last decade, but hadn't totally stopped his research into augmented learning. Just enough of his papers were successfully published to keep his research going, but he was down to just this relatively small lab, and one of his original student assistance, Julie. She now only worked occasionally with Dr. Schultz as she had her own research staff and projects in another building of the complex looking into genetic therapy for traumatic brain injury.

None of us was sure why Julie had stayed with Schultz all these years, but Leana thought they could have a "thing" together. I thought that highly unlikely considering the way they bickered and fought, and the wizen, now almost elderly Schultz seemed an unlikely target for her affection. Then again Julie was changed from the handsome young woman that I remembered all those years ago. She now sported a set of incredibly ugly glasses held to her neck by a beaded lanyard, had put on about one hundred seventy five pounds, and if you looked up the word geek in the dictionary it would likely have a picture of her next to Bill Gates as an archetypes. But, I'd fallen in love with a field mouse, so who was I to judge? Whatever the attraction, they were still working together, when Julie could spare the time.

Peering out of the vent, I could see them standing near the locked tabletop refrigerator looking down at four cages. The plastic and wire cages each held a rat, and in the first was a rat I recognized even from this distance! It was Justin, and just seeing him caged like that made my head spin and sent me back to some of the best and worst times in my life!

We'd become very good friends after he saved my life and I his during our original escape, and that bond had only grown during the wandering years. We'd even shared a room for a time when the rosebush colony first got going and we were short on space. I'd never really known my brothers or sisters, and I guess Justin had fallen into that role in my life, just as I had for him.

However much I enjoyed my friendships with Justin and the rats, once the colony was firmly established and Justin became a member of the Council and I its neutral arbitrator, the politics of the rosebush began to leave me cold. I worked very hard for years trying to be a buffer between the two developing power factions. On one side was Nicodemus with his dreams of a simple self-supporting rat society. On the other was Jenner with his desire to maintain the easy life on the Fitzgibbon's farm at all costs. Being a mouse, both sides came to see me as an impartial arbitrator of the issues that divided them.

It truly had been a thankless job standing between those two powerful personalities, and finally, during a particularly contentious meeting where even Justin, Arthur, and Mora were shouting, I tossed up my hands in despair and stormed out; though they all apologized afterward and kept trying to drag me back in.

Eventually I agreed that I would come back and referee their arguments, but only after a good long cooling off period. To accomplish this, I moved out to live with Ages in the basement of the burned farmhouse for what I'd thought would only be a few weeks that spring, but then I'd met Elizabeth.

I'd always thought the human idea of love at first sight was a hackneyed idea of literature, but after meeting her I knew it could be true. For an unaltered mouse, she was incredibly intelligent, strong-willed, and had an ingrained sweetness tempered with a touch of sadness that spoke directly to my soul. The sadness was from the loss of her parents and siblings when their nest had been washed away in a flashflood, and I being who I was, couldn't resist helping her. In turn she eased my loneliness as she taught me how to be a mouse while I taught her about the wider world, and amazingly she was even able to learn to read a bit.

Mice, like rats, are social animals, Ages notwithstanding, and I guess it was natural for the two of us being alone in the world to be drawn together, but what we shared was much more than just shared loneliness. We completed each other.

When I first mention to Ages that I was seeing her, he suspected that she was just another of the charity cases that I was want to take on. He loved to remind me of the squirrel I'd talked him into treating after Billy shot him with an air rifle. It had followed us around like a worshipful puppy for weeks afterward, complicating our lives to no end and nearly attracting Dragon down on us several times. On the other end of the spectrum was the owl I'd saved from starving when she'd gotten tangled up in fishing line in the Fitzgibbons compost heap. She, in solemn gratitude, put in a word with the Great Owl, and by his decree, rats and mice on the farm were protected from their hunters. But after meeting Elisabeth, Ages too was enchanted. Unfortunately he also reminded me of something else. Three years is just about the maximum lifespan for the average mouse, and I was already over six times that old and seemed likely to go on for many many more years.

At first I refused to admit that the love of my life would only last a year or two, and Ages and I had some terrible quarrels over the ethics of my relationship. Finally I stormed out throwing back over my shoulder as I left to start a life with her "Better to live a few months in happiness than to be forever alone!"

And indeed I did find happiness with Elizabeth for a time. She and our children were the lights of my life. I didn't mind that I was forbidden by the Council to bring her or the children to the colony or even speak of it to them. They didn't say what they would do to us if I had told them of NIMH, but I felt it best not to push the issue.

Life for us that summer was sweet, and I'd almost forgotten what it was like to live without the headaches caused by the political infighting of the colony, though I continued to help them. After all, we all helped each other against the cat.

What finally brought the future home to me in a way I could not deny was when Timothy was bitten by a spider and we nearly lost him. As we sat that cool fall night watching over our slowly recovering child, I realized I couldn't live without them. How could I watch them fade and finally die while I remained unchanged?

As I lay awake that night with Elizabeth lying exhausted by worry in my arms and our children sleeping around us, I came to some conclusions. I knew that Elizabeth was my one true love, and that the year we were together and the time after our four children were born, I was at the happiest I'd been in my life, and knew I had to do something!

There was only one place where I could find what I needed to save her and insure the minutes speeding by would not take her and our children from me forever, NIMH.

I went to Nicodemus the next day and told him I wanted to go back and asked for resources in exchange for the services I'd rendered to the colony, but was flatly refused. He feared that anyone that went back would be caught and could somehow expose the colony.

Then I went to Justin and asked him to help me return to this hellhole and retrieve the serum that would hopefully extend my family's life, but as much as he wanted to, he refused. Like most of the rats, he'd become a believer that Nicodemus was right and that any contact with NIMH could expose us to our old enemy. The fight this caused was not pretty, and much was said on both sides that I now regret.

Finally, in absolute desperation, I went to Jenner and offered my support in return for his, and even he turned me down saying that it was hopeless and that I would only be wasting my time on '_lower animals_' and possibly exposing the colony for no good purpose. It took three of them to pull me off of him.

Shortly after this I discovered I was being watched. It was subtle, but they didn't try overly hard to conceal the fact that they were going to make sure I didn't try to leave on my own.

With all options tried, I'd been forced to take matters into my own paws….

Shaking my head, I returned to the here and now.

The rat in the next cage looked somewhat familiar, but I couldn't place him at the moment. The next I only caught an occasional glimpse of as she darted about the cage testing the bars and door over and over with both paws and teeth, but was sure I didn't know her. The last rat I could not see at all because of the angle.

I heard the now the somewhat elderly sounding Dr. Schultz saying to Julie "…. condition. Likely caused from the fire in the hardware store, don't you know. I'm honestly surprised he's still alive."

Julie took off a set of long heavy plastic gloves and dropped them next to the last cage where she had been working, and let her glasses drop to dangle at the end of their lanyard as she said "Its your lab now Doctor Schultz, but I'd be inclined to give him something for the pain, now that you have your blood samples."

Schultz held up the ampoule of blood she'd handed him and squinted at it through his thick round glasses while he mumbled "You always coddle the animals so Julie, but if you feel you must, feel free" and he absently handed her a key he kept on a chain about his neck. He then put the blood with three other samples in a plastic tray and walked to the other end of the lab mumbling to himself about peptides.

Julie shook her head as she used the key to open the padlock on the refrigerator and took out a small plastic kit, but I only had eyes for what rested on the next shelf down. In a 6x6x1 clear plastic box rested a brown bottle with a hand-written label that had faded with time. In that bottle was the last of the original unique component of the serum that had made us. It was only a few feet away, and yet it may as well have been on the moon for all the good it did me; or Elizabeth for that matter. I watched the door close and sighed as Julie set the case she'd taken out down and load a syringe from it.

Putting her glasses and gloves back on, she said as she opened the forth cage "Don't you give me any trouble fella, and I'll be as gentle as I can with you. I know you've got to be hurting, and this will help." Whether he understood or not, the rat didn't resist when she took him from the cage. As she held him I could see his face and shoulders were covered with stubble and scabs on angry red skin, his eyes were squinting, crusted, one milky with scar tissue, and both his ears were ragged as if the edges had been burned away. His front paws were hidden in dirty gauze bandages that looked like they hadn't been changed in a while. All in all, he looked a mess. He didn't fight as Julie carefully injected him in the hip, and even slumped in apparent relief as she held him and asked the now relaxed form "Is that better little guy?"

The rat didn't reply of course. While we could read, write, and understand several human tongues easily enough, it was impossible for us to truly speak English, or any other human language that we were familiar with for that matter. Our mouths and vocal apparatus are just not made that way, and a lot of our vocalizations are well above the hearing range of humans.

Julie asked the doctor "How did his bandages get so filthy in the cage? They look like he's been running around in dirt!"

"Er, what was that, bandages you say?" asked the doctor distractedly from where he was sitting on a stool and running tests on the blood.

When Julie confirmed her question, he replied, "Oh, well there you go. He had them on when we caught him. I'd forgotten to mention it. Too excited by finding what they'd done to the nest don't you know."

Julie glanced down at the burned rat and I saw her brow lift in surprise, then she asked the rather distracted man "Are you sure Dr. Albert didn't bandage him?"

"Ah, yes, I'm sure" he said turning on his stool to peer owlishly at her as he collected his thoughts and adjusted his glasses. Finally he cleared his throat and continued "You see; I sent Albert and Bill out to the Fitzgibbon farm to follow up on that lead while I dealt with the one in Hampton. Came to nothing don't you know. Just another nest full of trash and farm rats as I'd expected it to be.

"Albert should have euthanized the rats he caught after seeing the nest, but when the rats burst out of their back door, Bill pulled off his mask without checking to see if the air around the hose was clear first. If he'd really been pumping cyanide, he'd likely be dead. As it was, he was a bit off his game for the rest of the day and that worried Albert enough that he came directly back here rather than doing any field processing.

"But that's not important. Just wait till you see the pictures of what I found in Hampton Julie! Lights, fans, books, they had even tied into the heater in the building with a cardboard, what did they call it, plenum. Yes, I think that's it. Just astounding I tell you!"

Turning back to his work he said over his shoulder "There were other things as well. When I bring in the pictures and artifacts tomorrow you'll see them. Hand written books in English, building drawings, wiring schematics… Just astounding I tell you!" his voice trailed off as he became adsorbed in his tests.

Julie looked back at the rat in her gloved hands and said so softly that I'm sure Dr. Schultz could not hear "Do you understand me? Are you one of our original twenty?"

The rat remained silent as his eyelids drooped.

Gently she placed him back into the cage saying in a normal voice "Poor little guy. I'll get some burn cream, and drops for those eyes. Be back in a minute" and with that she exited the room through the spring-loaded door to the animal room where a dog greeted her with excited barking.

As soon as she left the room, I saw Justin and the other rat in the next cage move to the front of their cages and start a systematic examination of the doors, forcing a groan from me. They didn't, couldn't know that NIMH had installed cameras all over the building and if Dr. Schultz chose, he could play the images back and see how they were methodically examining the new locks.

Turning to Amanda I asked softly "Can you go and kill the footage from the lab cameras?"

She gave a soft chuckle before replying "No sweat. I'll knock out all the footage for… say… the last six hours."

I nodded and said softly "Good. Make sure no one is watching the feeds from the lobby security desk and then get rid of as much as you can, and keep them off for the next hour or so."

She nodded, popped her magnets free, and was off down the duct to the basement where this building also stashed their obsolete or broken computer equipment.

The family had found several discarded laptops there and gotten a couple of them up and running, or I should say Amanda got them up and running. She was a wizard with the things, and loved watching streaming movies and how-to videos as much as reading. She also had accumulated a list of user names and passwords for just about every system in the building.

Ter said quietly from my other side "I take it that there were two colonies raided, and that only one of them was of our people?"

I thought about it for a few moments, then sighed "Not enough info yet. You remember Justin?"

Ter nodded "Yes, young, gray fur, number A9 as I recall. He was the bold one that found the vents and let us out of the cabinet after you got Nicodemus to agree to let us come with them."

That was Ter through and through. He could lay his tools out on his workbench and place his paw on each as he needed it, or tell you word for word what someone had told him years earlier. I just wished I had a memory like that. Finally I said "He's in the first cage, and the humans don't think he is a NIMH rat."

Ter gave a grunt and asked, "Then who was captured in the other nest? Could they have abandoned that Thorn Valley project you were talking about? Do you think that perhaps they started a new project putting some people in town for supplies?"

I thought about it for a bit and finally said "Not likely. Nicodemus was dead-set on getting as far away from the humans as possible and had just about convinced everyone of the need when I left. I can't see him moving into a town, or allowing any but the most fleeting contact with any human dominated locations, or going back to theft for that matter. Maybe he'd already moved and they caught only a rear guard at the farm, though it would be a bit early for them to have gone. The Plan was to move in the late summer after the first crops were planted and well on their way to being harvested."

As I watched, Justin found the trick to the latch and a moment later was out of his cage. He went immediately to the next cage and opened it, and he and the second rat were heading to the third cage when the door to the animal room opened and Julie stepped back in.

Justin glanced over his shoulder at the door and saw her just as she saw him, and he dropped to all four to pick up speed. Julie looked shocked as she dropped the things she was carrying and heaved at the door to close it faster.

It slam like a rifle shot, making Justin jump, but he opened the next cage and the female came darting out. The three then sprinted to the last cage where they started working at the door.

Julie yelled "Doctor! They're out!"

Schultz had turned with an angry scowl on his face at being interrupted by the door and the shout, then his eyes opened wide and with an "Oh my!" he jumped to his feet and grabbed his gloves.

Julie came forward, grabbing her gloves as well, just as Justin got the last cage open and the injured rat staggered out.

Dr. Schultz dashed forward, apparently in an attempt to grab at the burned rat, but the female jumped on him with a scream that put my fur up!

Schultz recoiled and started shaking his arm where she'd landed and was biting at the high-topped plastic glove yelling, "It's got me! Do something!"

Julie halted and looked at the other two remaining rats as they showed their teeth and growled at her while defending their wounded and apparently nearly sightless comrade.

I heard Justin order, "Sullivan, go help Toora! I'll try to get Jenner out of here!"

I couldn't restrain myself hearing this and grabbed at the vent louvers growling "Jenner! Oh my God! What happened to you?" though I was much too far away to be heard over the commotion in the room.

Justin's order could be little more than just shrill modulated squeals to Julie, but we'd always known she was far from stupid. She saw Sullivan respond by dropping back to all fours, turn, and then he gave a mighty leap to Dr. Schultz shoulder while Justin kept between her and Jenner and tried to force him back away from her.

Stopping in her tracks, she looked at Justin and did something that shocked me. She spoke to him saying, "Look big guy, there's only one way out of this room, and you can't use it. Now I don't want to hurt any of you trying to catch and put you back in the cages, so if you give up I promise you will not be harmed and I'll try to help your friend, but you guys have got to go back in the cages!"

By this time Doctor Schultz was yelling and dancing like a mad man as the rats attacked him. He finally managed to dislodge Sullivan, but not before he'd gotten a few good bites in on the doctor's neck, but the female however had managed to grab his shirt and I saw her tail disappearing between the buttons as she crawled inside!

Julie pulled off the gloves, tossed them aside, and held up her empty hands saying to Justin "You can't get out of the vents like the others did. As you can see, they're up high and the covers are locked down. The door is much too heavy for you to move, and if you could get past it, there are many more between you and the outside. Return to your cages, stop attacking poor Dr. Schultz, and I'll see what I can do for your wounded friend. Deal?"

Justin was still snarling and pushing back, his fingers crooked ready to claw, when I heard Jenner say, "I can't see and am too drugged up to run Justin. Save yourself if you think you can!"

Justin glanced back yelling, "I'm not abandoning you! There's no telling what they'll do if they get their hands on you again!"

Jenner just sighed in a resigned way and said, "Then so be it" and slowly moved past Justin with his paws out before him till he banged it into the side of the cage with a small cry of pain. Feeling around to the front, he went back inside.

Julie and Justin just stood stunned and watched as once inside; a bandaged paw reached out and gently pulled the door shut. Their heads turned from the closed cage to lock eyes, and I could almost see a ball of fire pressed back and forth between them as a silent contest of wills ensued. Finally, reluctantly, Justin dropped his head and turned to his cage, calling "Sullivan, Toora, it's all over for now! There's no way out of here!"

With a sigh Julie grabbed her gloves and went to help Doctor Schultz where he was rolling about on the floor yelling incoherently and swatting at the bulge in his shirt that was laving a trail of growing bloodstains.

XXXX

I felt helpless as I watched the battle play out. I wanted to help, but what could I do! If I let the doctors know I was here, there would be no help for any of us, and the fates of these four were not what I was here to change.

I felt a paw on my shoulder and Ter said in a soft but urgent voice "Growl any louder and they may hear you even over the noise Schultz is making!"

Choking down my anger I quieted myself as I watched Julie scoop up the unresisting Sullivan and put him back in his cage, then return and pull the enraged Toora out of Dr. Schultz's shirt.

The scrappy girl had left bites and scratches all over the doctor's torso, and Sullivan had bitten him badly on the neck. Julie finally managed to get Toora back into her cage, locked it, and then grabbed the padlock she had removed from the refrigerator and snapped that on the cage door for good measure.

Dr. Schultz was still sitting on the floor, holding a hand over his bitten neck and trying to figure out which of the many other bites and scratches on his stomach and sides he wanted to hold as Julie came back to him.

Grabbing up a towel, she started trying to staunch the bleeding as she said, "You're going to need stitches, and a lot of them!"

The doctor, his snow-white hair in disarray, eyed the cages darkly and growled "God knows what diseases those things have! I should do a rabies check on the two that bit me right now!"

Julie exploded "Are you mad! If they are what we think they are, then they are irreplaceable! I won't let you harm any of them!"

Schultz climbed to his feet and was trembling slightly with shock or anger as he said "But only the burned one is of any value to us! The other two and likely the female as well seem to be just regular rats, and they could be carrying almost anything!"

Julie glanced back at Justin and Sullivan where they were watching her from their cages and I saw her shiver slightly before saying "Doctor, I think you're reacting to the moment. Don't you want to see the results of the blood test before you make any dissensions you can't undo?"

Schultz blinked, and finally gaining control of himself said "Um, well, when you put it that way I guess I can wait, but we must secure the cages! Apparently even the improved locks are not up to the job on at least one of these mutants!"

Julie sighed saying "You start on out to my van and I'll be out as soon as I lock up here. The Emergency room shouldn't be too crowded this time of night, and I don't think you need to be driving in your condition."

Schultz grabbed his coat from the rack next to the door and wobbled out grumbling, "I hope it's not packed full. I hate waiting fo…" and the door closed behind him with a click.

Turning back to Justin, Julie said "Look, I don't have any more big locks so I can't lock you all into the cages just now. I could use the built-in cage locks again, but I have a feeling you'll just get back out the minute the door closes, so instead I'm going to let the cats in the next room out. If you get out of this room, they're likely to find you, and you will be dead. Try to chew through the baseboards, and you'll never know what room beyond they could be in, and the locking screws will keep you out of the vents even if you figure out a way to get up to them."

Removing the lock from Toora's cage and narrowly dodging her lunge at the door, she latched it on the cage that held Jenner and continued "You also seem to put great store in the value of this fellow, so I'll make it really hard for you to get him out of his cage, and I'll also give you my promise that I'll do what I can for him when I get back.

"I'd ask if you understood me" she said with a half smile, "but I have a feeling that's not a problem."

With that she went to the door and, taking her coat from the hook, followed the doctor out to the happy greeting of a barking dog.

XXXX

I watched as Justin, Sullivan, and Toora came out onto the tabletop and started speaking among themselves while examining the padlock. I wanted desperately to call out to them and let them know I was here, but didn't dare till Amanda could assure me that the cameras were disabled.

Likely it was only five or ten minutes that I had to wait for her return, but it seemed forever before we heard the soft padding of clawed feet coming back up the duct and a voice call "The cameras are down and the disk wiped."

I let out a sigh and cupping my paws before my mouth called out of the vent "Justin! Justin! Can you hear me?"

I saw his fur stand on end as he looked around, then up before calling back "Who is that? What do you want?"

"It's Jonathan old friend, Jonathan Frisby. How on earth did you end up back here?"

I saw Justin's jaw drop as he said weakly "Jonathan?" then yelled joyfully "Jonathan! We thought Dragon got you!"

I called back "That was the only way I could be sure that the Council wouldn't send people out to stop me, or hurt my friends and family!"

He crossed his arms and, whiskers bristling, yelled back "You know why we refused to allow you to come back here!"

I laughed and replied "Good thing for you I broke Council law, wouldn't you say!"

Justin's ears perked up, and he uncrossed his arms as he asked with hope "Then you can get us out of here?"

I sighed and called back "I don't know! I have a plan to get us out, but I didn't count on you four! And as you well know, I'm running out of time!"

Justin sighed and called back "I have news for you Jonny Mouse! Your wife is a hero on par with you now, and your son nearly died, again! She also knows all about us and NIMH! The whole thing! Nicodemus of all people told her himself!"

I felt my heart lurch and drop to my feet as he told me in a few short sentences what had been happening to Elizabeth and my family as well as the colony in my absence including Jenner's bid for freedom. With the news, my guilt at leaving them for this mad venture went from intolerable to something off the scale. I hadn't really expected to take this long at NIMH. Originally I thought I would succeed or die trying in a few weeks to a month, but just finding the right building on this now huge campus had taken far longer than I thought it would. Finding out that Dr. Schultz didn't really understand how his process worked and had not been able to reproduce his core serum had come as a horrible surprise as well. How I would ever explain my long absence I didn't know!

I was thankful of one thing. My apparent death had motivated the rats to action in helping Elizabeth against all their rules. Perhaps Nicodemus' conscience was bothering him and the pressure Justin, Ages, and even Arthur had place on him had helped force it, or perhaps it was just that with the pending move he no longer cared if Elizabeth and the children knew about them, but whatever the cause, they had acted for which I was very grateful.

As Justin finished assuring me again that my family was safe, I stood and called back "Thank you for your help Justin! I doubt Nicodemus would have helped so readily without your bringing the pressure of the community down on him!"

He shook his head saying, "It was the right thing to do! I thought I was doing it in your memory, and to tell the truth, I did like her when we finally met! She didn't deserve a second loss like that!"

I felt another pang and changed the subject asking, "So you moved early?"

He nodded calling back "The Plan is in full swing, if a bit premature! We couldn't take as much food as we wanted, and couldn't destroy all the tools as we panned, but we did what we could to hide it all!"

A slurred ruined voice from the cage housing Jenner called "So foolish! If they haven't been eaten by wild animals by now, likely the fools will be starving by the winter if Nicodemus has his way and institutes his real utopian plan!"

Justin turned and snarled "We've heard it all from you before! Doesn't seem stealing from the humans has done you any good Jenner!"

There was a dark raspy chuckle and the voice replied, "Oh Justin, you always were one to be taken in by old Nic's confidence games! Mark my words; nothing good will come from dumping all our technology and living as barbarians in the wilderness! No power equals no sure food storage! No glass in the windows and no heat or drugs, and our young will die of pneumonia and worse! Shortened life spans, epidemics, reduced intelligence, that's what Nic's plan will bring, not the utopian paradise he lead you to think it would be!"

Before Justin could reply Jenner continued, "Granted, my attempt to start a new colony didn't workout so well, but at least I tried. I didn't just dictate without compromise and take our people off into the wild to become….. savages!"

I could tell even at this distance that Justin was seething as he growled "Let's not forget that it was the "mechanized rats" news story about you and your lot that got us booted out early and Sullivan and I gassed, old friend! If it hadn't been for Elizabeth's warning, the entire colony would have been captured!"

Toora who'd been sniffing around the locked cage snarled to Justin "We got to get him out of there and escape!"

Looking up she yelled "Voice in the wall, you have way of getting us out of here?"

I looked at her long and hard then and decided what we had here was an unaltered rat. And one that had tied herself to Jenner of all people! Considering his opinion of "lesser animals" that had to be one of the biggest jests ever played on one of us, and when the time was right I would make him suffer for the pain he had brought me teasing about my choice in mates!

Finally I called back to her "Not now! I'll work at getting you all out, but it will take time!"

She grumbled saying to Justin "You give up to easy! I had bad man down! If you had helped we could have stopped him, then bad woman and be gone!"

Before she could start a fight, I called "Look, I don't know how much time we have before Julie gets back Justin, but I need to tell you a few things while we have the opportunity, and I've got a hell of a lot to do as well!

"First and foremost, there are a lot of cameras in this building! They rerecord most of the comings and goings, and we were caught by a camera in a supermarket during our wandering time. Seeing Nicodemus and Jenner reading a map at the checkout counter is what kept Schultz looking for us! The one in here is dead at the moment, but guard your reactions in the future or there will be more physical evidence we can't hide and Schultz may be able to get others interested in us, like the military!

"Second, the animals in the next room are augmented like us! Some of them are my friends and I intend to take them with me if I can!

"Third, I am here for the serum in that refrigerator to save my wife and children! Nothing is more important to me than my wife and family, so please don't make me make a choice between friends and family a second time!

"Finally three of the lost-six were still alive when I got here and are in the vents with me! They and their family are leaving with me too. We will be going to the Fitzgibbon farm where I intend to save the life of my wife and any of my children that need it. I then intend to storm Nicodemus' bastion in Thorn Valley and make him let us stay there!

"I will try to get you four out of here too, but what you do after that is none of my business, unless it gets in the way of my plans! Got it?"

Justin was silent for a few moments, then called back "Got it Jonny Mouse, and count me in on the escape! I already owe you and your wife my life once, so why not again! I however will not go against the Plan!"

Sullivan nodded and, looking both thoughtful and hopeful, called "Count me in all the way round Jonathon!"

From his cage Jenner called "With my eyes and hands as they are, I don't seem to have a lot of choice but to depend on the kindness of others. As much as it galls me to owe you even once, if you will help me again, I will go with you and help as I can, Jonathan, though I doubt I would be warmly welcomed by Nic if we do get to the valley!"

The rat named Toora looked up and snarled, "Where Jenner goes, I go!"

Satisfied that I'd laid down the law, I turned to Amanda asking, "Do you see it?"

A smile lit her lovely tan face as she replied, "Yes! I was wondering why you were, like, babbling at those guys when it's finally time!"

I chucked and shook my head as I freed my magnets and raced back down the duct with her hot on my heals. What we'd seen was that for the first time since I'd gotten here the refrigerator was unlocked and unguarded. The second escape from NIMH could finally start!

End Chapter 5


	6. Switch and bait

Chapter 6 _Switch and bait._

In my zeal to get started I outdistanced Amanda. She still lacked the stamina that hard outdoor living had given me over the years but, like her brother and parents, was steadily improving under my guidance. I slowed my headlong rush in the darkness when I felt the ductwork beneath my feet change as I approached the third curve. I was panting with both the exertion and excitement as I felt along the right-hand side at about head level, and finally found what I wanted. Using a good bit of strength, I forced open the laboriously cut bit of ductwork that formed a mouse-sized door, and found the rope ladder. Pulling myself through, I climbed carefully down in the pitch-black darkness between the walls.

It was a dusty and dangerous place. There were very sharp screws poking through the drywall that could easily wound or impale the unwary if you let yourself swing too much, but I knew the place well. At the base of the wall I started digging out the materials I had stashed there months ago under the fallen bits of plaster left from construction, while above I heard Amanda start down behind me.

By the time she had caught up, I'd slung a knotted nylon climbing line with a three-tined hook pilfered from a fishing trophy over my shoulder, strapped a kit of jewelers tools used for fixing eyeglasses to my side. Wiping the dust from a six inch long screwdriver of the kind they normally give away at trade shows, I slipped it into the sheath strapped to my back that Ter had made for me. It had a flat blade on one end I'd carefully sharpened, and a phillips on the other. This was part tool, part weapon for me in case the cats were out and got a bit uppity or I needed to do some heavy work. Having had many bad times with cats, I didn't trust them no matter how civil they pretended to be.

Amanda said softly as she started getting kitted up "Dad's gone for mom and Merriest, should we wait for them?"

I was already at the hole I'd cut into the drywall behind the rubber baseboard and replied, "I don't want to spare the time. There's no telling when Julie could get back, and we've got to get this done now!"

Taking a deep breath to steady my nerves, I said, "I'm going out to confront the cats. I hope its Artie and not Sassy I run into first."

I heard her chuckle in the darkness and there was a click of metal on glass before she replied "Sassy's not so bad, you just need to understand her humor."

I grumbled, "She's a cat. She doesn't need to be anything else to be dangerous. It's in their blood and I honestly doubt they are capable of humor or civilized manors."

Her laugh was like music, but all I could do was sigh. She'd never met a cat like Dragon or some of the others I'd run into and from in the wandering days, and I could only hope she never would. Likely she would walk right up and say hello, causing the cat a moment of indecision having never before had a snack introduce itself.

Feeling around, I found the hole and leaning forward and using all my strength, pushed out the heavy black rubber scuff-strip that ran around the base of the wall and covered the hole. I blinked into the flood of florescent light I'd let in and waited for my eyes to adjust before pulling myself through into the narrow gap between the cages and the floor of the animal room.

Above me were the dog cages holding Alfred, Shasta, and Rambo. To my right were the now empty cat cages and to my left the rat cages of Ghost, Bell, Shamoo, and Marie. Only about a quarter of the cages housed animals at this point as Schultz was not in an animal phase of any of his testing at the moment.

Ahead I could see the pile of black fur that I knew was Artie lying curled in the middle of the room on the cool linoleum. Plucking up my courage and pulling my screwdriver/pike from its scabbard, I started forward. To get to the connecting hole I'd cut into the lab wall, I had to cross the room. I could've done so by going around the baseboard as I had a hundred times before, but I was in a hurry so I chose the direct rout that passed by Artie.

Artie was the oldest of the animals in this second group test subjects of NIMH serum, and the other animals respected him. They would listen to him, to greater or lesser extents, and it had been his idea for them to reduce their demonstrations of intelligence. Sassy and Shasta were not so keen on doing this, but were complying with his wishes for now. The others were more amenable, in some cases because it was simply less strenuous.

I'd found common ground with Artie, if not trust, when I'd finally gotten up my nerve to talk to him, and had struck a bargain. If he would help us get the serum, we'd take he and his group as far as the first leg in our escape, and perhaps beyond if they wanted to come with us and proved trustworthy.

I'd gone no more than a foot out past the dog cages when there was a loud thump behind me and I was bathed in a blast of warm harsh breath in the form of a loud growling hiss!

I whorled about with my screwdriver at the ready, my heart pounding a mile a minute, to find a pair of golden eyes set in a snarling grey-furred feline face as wide as I am tall just inches from me! The terror of those eyes held me so that I couldn't move, couldn't think, and could hardly breathe!

Over my fear I heard a drawling voice from the cage I'd just come out from under say "Leave him alone Sassy, unless you want us to leave you here."

The cat held the pose for a few more seconds, then dropped to her side and started rolling about giggling while saying, "I'm sorry Alfred, but that just never gets old! Did you see the look on his face? I thought he was going to pee himself!"

There was a longsuffering sigh and Alfred asked "And what if he dies of a heart attack before we get out? Would being stuck here till they cut your head off and pull out your brain be worth the laugh?"

The cat sighed, and while looking up at the lanky dog with his long blond fur watching her with obvious displeasure, and said softy "You know, I think it would."

I shook myself and grumbled "Ass" before turning my back on the cat and continuing across the room while trying to smooth the fur on my arms back down, and having little success.

The black ball of fur sighed, stretched, and then rumbled "What news Jonathan? I saw them bring in more captives, and then Dr. Schultz left looking like he'd been in a loosing fight with a barbwire fence."

I walked on by Artie, feeling a thrill of doing the forbidden as I passed him, and replied over my shoulder "Doctor Schultz has captured some of the first generation test subjects, and they were a bit less than agreeable to some of his requests."

There was a deep grumbling laugh from the older cat, while behind me I heard Sassy let out a yelp. Glancing back I saw her licking one of her white tipped paws and looking down accusingly at Amanda who was holding a pin with a big innocent grin on her face as she leaned on the translucent brown bottle she was suppose to be bringing with her.

"What was that for?" asked the cat sounding hurt.

Amanda replied primly "That was for frightening poor Jonathan. You know he doesn't like you joking around like that."

A bit miffed by the delay I called "We don't have time for games you two!"

The two very different, but very similar girls paused to look at me as if to say, 'Are you nuts? There's always time for play!' and all I could do was sigh and roll my eyes as I turned back to continue across the floor. As I did, I caught a glimpse of the two with their heads together whispering to each other, which didn't bode well for someone.

Before I'd traveled another foot, I was passed by a gray and white blur, and as I watched Sassy skidded to a halt next to the wall, sat, and Amanda, the bottle strapped to her back, slid off the cat's back and turned to me tapping her food in mock impatience asking "What kept ya old mouse? We don't have time for games you know" while Sassy watched me with her head cocked in amusement stifling her giggles.

I just frowned and shook my head as I passed the two and they both fell to giggling. Sadly I wondered what would happen the first time Sassy got really hungry on the road out of here. Then again, I got along well with the rats, and we were supposed to be mortal enemies. Perhaps the friendship between the two could survive an empty stomach, but knowing cats I didn't hold out much hope.

Amanda, her joke through, joined me as I pulled the rubber strip back and exposed the hole in the fire wall I'd so laboriously cut to the lab and we slipped the bottle through before going in ourselves. I wanted to say something about their antics, but held my tongue as time really was pressing.

Another hole let us back out of this cinderblock wall and into the lab itself under the table holding the cages and the refrigerator. Coming out from under the table, I called "Justin, are you still up there?"

After a moment a head poked over the edge and he called down "Jonathan, what are you doing here? Aren't you worried about the human coming back?"

Before I could answer a second head poked over the edge and I heard Toora say "Voice in wall is a mouse? You talk to mouse like it is someone? You are not right in the head!"

Justin sighed and said without acknowledging her barb "I take it that you want my help Jonathan?"

I pulled out the fishhook climbing line and called "The last of the serum that made us is in that little refrigerator behind you and I could really use your help to get it, if you are willing."

He nodded and pulled back yelling "I'm out of the way, fling your hook and I'll see to it that it doesn't slip!"

XXXX

A few minutes later, my arms burning from the exertion, I pulled myself over the edge of the table and Justin grabbed me and pulled me into a hug that left my feet dangling several inches above the table top! I was shocked to see tears making his eyes shine as he said brokenly, "Jonny Mouse, I never thought I'd see you again!"

I felt my throat closing up and I started to get misty as well and managed a gruff "At times over the last few months I didn't think I'd live to see you again either, Brother Rat" as I patted his back affectionately.

He chuckled and sniffed as he set me down, and we stood for a moment, both overwhelmed at seeing one another again. Then before either could speak, a tan-furred hand came over the edge of the tabletop and we hurried to help Amanda up.

For the first time in my life I saw Amanda at a loss for words as she looked up into Justin's hansom face, then her nose and ears blushed bright crimson before she looked away.

I chucked saying, "I don't have time for full introductions, but Captain Justin Straub; this blushing beauty is Amanda Fog.

Justin, being a schmooze from way back, took her paw and bowing, kissed her fingers before saying "A pleasure young lady. You wouldn't be related to Terrance Fog would you?"

I didn't think it was possible, but Amanda turned an even deeper shade of crimson from the tip of her nose to the tops of her ears while mumbling an almost incoherent response about his being her father. Her reaction brought a huge smile to Justin's face as he could never resist using his flamethrower-like charms on the ladies. Having seen this time and again with just about every even faintly rodent female that laid eyes on Justin, I made a tisking sound and shaking my head, turned to the refrigerator with a smile.

For a moment I just placed my hand on the cool plastic-covered door as Justin continued to chat up Amanda in the background. After all this time, I could hardly believe I was about to get what I had so desperately wanted! Patting the huge door softly, I then took the screwdriver from my back and started trying to get it into the gap between the shell and the door. I'd just gotten a good purchase when Toora stepped up and growled, "Stop!"

I looked up both surprised and a bit annoyed I growled back "I don't have time for this" and pulled with all my strength.

The door popped open with a blast of light and cold air, but she pushed it shut again with a shoulder saying, "You make time! I may not understand all this, but I know people. If you get what you want little mouse, you will leave us! You show me way out now, and I let you come back and get what you want."

I was so angry and frustrated that I was tempted to just run her through with my screwdriver, but held my anger in check and asked myself "_What would Elizabeth do in such a case?" _ I've always been a person that sees my objective and goes for it, while Elizabeth tended to try to get past problems rather than plow through them. With just a moment of thought I had my answer. She'd have someone that this angry rat respects get her to move.

I didn't break eye contact with her, but called "Justin, we are running out of time. Get her the hell out of my way! I don't have the time to explain what all I have planned!"

I was startled to hear Jenner's somewhat slurred rattly voice call from the last cage "Toora, let him have what he wants. Surprisingly, he is a mouse of his word. He and Ages could have abandoned us when we couldn't get out of here the first time, but they didn't. If he tells you he will do something, you can believe him, also he could kill you if you don't."

She eyed me for a moment longer, but ether something in my expression, or Jenner's words must have swayed her. With little good grace, she stepped aside glairing at me while saying, "Don't trust mice, but I trust Jenner!"

Swallowing hard and breathing a sigh of relief, I again popped the door open when she was clear.

As the door swung wide, I was bathed in frigid air that cut though my tunic like a knife and made me shiver. Above me and through the selves I could see the bottle in its plastic case, and a quick jump put me next to it. The cold shelf that had started my feet aching on contact, rattled a moment later and I knew without looking back that Amanda had joined me. As she steeped up, I glanced over and saw her looking at the bottle, but I couldn't tell what the expression was on her face.

I smiled and said "Looks like our bottle is a good match for this one. Let's get the box open and do the exchange before we run out of time or our feet start sticking to the shelf."

She gave a noncommittal grunt, then nodded saying, "I guess we should. I tied off the bottle to the climbing line before starting up."

Calling back down to Justin I asked "Can you pull the other bottle up here?"

He nodded, chafing his paws together against the cold. Returning to the edge of the table, he started hauling up the line we'd climbed.

Meanwhile I pulled a tiny screwdriver from the case at my hip with shivering paws and started prying up the plastic cover. The lid came off with a pop and slid to one side. Reaching in and touching the cold glass of the bottle, I breathed a foggy sigh of relief feeling that finally I had what I needed to save Elizabeth, and that at long last I was taking the first step on the path that would take me back to her and my family.

Amanda said softly "So this is really it. We'll be leaving soon, and you'll be going back to her."

Something in her voice made me look up and I was startled to see tears in her eyes.

I asked softly "What's wrong Amada?"

She just shook her head, scrubbed at her eyes with a forearm saying "We'd better get this done before Julie gets back."

I was concerned, but she was right. There was no time now.

The shelf bounced alarmingly as Justin joined us. Setting down the bottle we'd brought with us he chuckled saying "I see you've been planning this for a while, so I won't ask if you can keep that cold where you are taking it."

I nodded as he bent and lifted out the bottle we had come for. He then replaced it with the one we'd brought, and I noticed that I'd misjudged the level of serum left in the bottle a bit when I'd put distilled water in our decoy. I shook my head realizing that it would have to do. Taking out a pen filler I'd cut down for my use, I quickly did my best to reproduce the time faded scrawl of the hand-written label. Finally we closed the lid on the box and carefully returned to the tabletop.

Justin patted the bottle saying "A lot of trouble for so little a thing" looking over it at me he smiled continuing "but having met her, I agree she is worth it. I just hope you know what you're doing. As smart as she is now, she may outstrip Nicodemus if this has a chance to work on her" he added with a wink.

There was a snort from the last cage and I heard Jenner mumble after a cough "Wouldn't take much to outstrip his intelligence. It's his ego that's untouchable."

Sullivan asked before Justin could start up again "So, how soon before we get to go?"

I shook my head saying "If all goes well, about four days. It should take them longer than that to do their blood tests, so you should be safe, but when Julie gets back, she's very likely to padlock all your cages, so I've got to figure out a way to get you guys out. Considering the cages are plastic, I'll likely end up leaving the locks alone and cutting you out."

Jenner chimed in from his cage "And that brings up another question. The two humans know far too much, so what are we going to do about them?"

I felt a chill pass over me knowing that the answer to that one was not going to be easy, at least not for me. Julie may not have any physical evidence of this nights work thanks to Amanda, but she had seen something not easily explained, and she could dig for answers. Schultz had evidence in the form of pictures, artifacts, and blood samples that had to be destroyed, and what of the man himself?

Suddenly gaining the serum didn't feel as much like a victory in the closing days of a war, but rather a first step down a path I didn't want to tread.

XXXX

We were still hauling the serum bottle up between the walls to the duct when I heard the door to the animal room open and close, and a dog started yapping happily "Hiya" over and over, then the door to the lab opened and shut.

Merriest chuckled softly saying "Iiiiiiit's baaaack!" while Amanda sighed at the antics of her bratty little brother.

She was likely getting ready to lay into him when Ter said, "We've got this Jonathan. Why don't you go see what Julie does while we see to getting this stowed in the cooler."

I started to object, but he said softly for my ears alone "Go on, Pendra is there, but would be happy for the company, and you likely have a good bit of thinking to do."

Reluctantly I left, but I knew Ter would look after the serum and follow our preparation to the letter.

XXXX

Returning to the vent, I found Pendra crouching and watching Julie as she was snapping new padlocks she'd just taken from their packages on the cage doors after putting in trays of food and water bottles on the sides. Justin and the others must have gone back into the cages before she'd arrived as her gloves were lying just where she had left them.

Finally she snapped a new lock on the tabletop refrigerator before pausing a moment to look at the rats. With a sigh she asked, "Is it just one, or all of you guys?" and shook her head.

After a few moments she went back to the door and picked up the tube of cream, eye drops, and the bandages she'd dropped, then went to Jenner's cage saying "A promise is a promise little guy."

She picked up the gloves but paused, then put them back down. Unlocking the cage door, she reached in.

I'm not sure what Jenner did, but it made her jump and pull her hand back with a squeak. She then picked up the gloves grumbling "Ok, so I'm not as brave as I thought" then went on to pick up Jenner and put cream on his burns and some drops in his eyes.

When she removed the filthy bandages, I heard her suck in a breath, and what I saw made me swallow hard as well. Jenner's paws were swollen angry lumps. The fingers blackened and cracked. Examining this she shook her head and said softly "Antibiotics and steroids for you little guy. Even then I don't know if we can save those toes of yours."

Jenner's head dropped, and I could see his sigh from my perch in the vent.

Julie smiled slightly before saying "You understood me, didn't you?"

He squinted up at her and cocked his head. Julie nodded and finally said "Tomorrow I've got to get you guys out of here. We've got a day, maybe two at best before Dr. Schultz gets back and you can't be here. If you are, I don't know if I can stop him from dissecting at least one of you. He's truly desperate to find out if any of you are augmented, so much so he may not wait for the results of the blood tests."

I saw Jenner's body stiffen and she said in a distracted sort of way, as if used to talking like this "Exactly. He's not a bad man, but he wants an answer as to how you came about and why he hasn't been able to reproduce it very very badly before his funding finally dries up for good. If he's able to get one and finally reproduce the stage three serum, he'll be able to sell his discovery to the military. Worst of all, people will stop thinking he's a crackpot and will fund his research and he'll go looking for the rest of you, and I can't let that happen.

"First thing I've got to do is get rid of the physical evidence he brought in. Since he hasn't unpacked it yet, perhaps a car fire would do the job. I think he has some road flairs in the trunk" she said tapping her finger to her chin thoughtfully as Jenner lay in her other glove. After a moment she dropped her free hand and went on "Anyway I'll take care of that as soon as I get some replacements for you" she said as she put Jenner back into his cage and locked it.

She then went to the far end of the lab and recovered the blood samples she had taken earlier; replacing them with samples she took from her pocket.

"Perhaps a divinity is on our side in this" she mused as she headed for the door. "It can't be coincidental that the video recorders all went down this evening."

Pausing at the door with her finger on the light switch she said "You guys stay put and don't do anything stupid tonight. Tomorrow morning I'll help you, and I want you to talk to Lora, she may even be able to help us decide what to do." Flicking the switch she finally left.

As the door shut, I sat back in wonder. Perhaps we had an ally we weren't expecting, and who was this Lora?

Pendra looked at me and mirroring my thoughts asked, "Who do you think Lora is? She's never been to the lab as far as I know."

From below I heard Toora ask, "Jenner, what is di….. dissecting is word?"

XXXX

With more questions than answers, even after talking to Justin for some time after Julie left, I had a rather restless remainder of the night. It was a bit less dark, and some of the fans were running at higher speed when I next felt a hand on my shoulder. Opening my eyes I found I could see a dim outline of Pendra above me.

Guessing what she was here for, I sighed and sat up as she said "Good morning Jonathan. Leana says she wants to see you before you do anything else."

With a sigh I scrubbed at my face and scowled, sending Pendra back a step or two. I sighed again and waved a hand her direction saying, "No, not your fault, I just didn't get much sleep."

She relaxed and asked shyly "You want something to eat? There's still a bit of the veggie tray we salvaged left."

I nodded saying, "Thanks. Can you meet me outside Leana's duct with a baby carrot or something?"

She bobbed her head and took off saying "I'll see what we have."

I made use of the plastic petri dish that served as my chamber pot, brushed out my fur as best I could with a bit of a pipe cleaner then donned my day shirt, patched tunic, cloak, and magnets before heading out.

The only lighted vents I passed on my way to Leana's were along the hallway, as usual. The basement levels of this building were used for surplus, machinery, and storage now, which was great for our needs. We could block off vents and turn the ductwork leading to them into living or storage spaces as needed, and power and data were strung all over the place for the taking. Some of the old shutdown labs on this level still had running water, gas, and refrigerators as well. One of the labs we had taken over and used the sink for fresh water and waste disposal. Had anyone noticed evidence of our activities, likely they would have wondered why the sink and counters were so clean in a closed lab.

Pendra met me with what she said was one of the last sticks of broccoli. It was a bit wilted, but still much better than stale potato chips. She flashed a nervous look at the side duct that was Leana's home as I munched, gave a quick smile, then headed off the other way.

Leana's side duct was just down from mine, but it was much larger and far different. Over the years, she'd made quite a home for herself with Ter and his family's help. The first thing you noticed was the cloth hanging that blocked the duct from the main like a door. After you passed the cloth, the next was the fact that it was bathed in light from LEDs strung overhead and the laptop that dominated most of the rear of the space and was currently showing the CNN home screen. Her bedding was neatly made in a drink cup on its side with the bottom cut from it, and she had chairs and tables built from odds and ends of castoff containers, and a stack of paperback books pilfered from the break room were stacked to one side. Presently she waited for me near one of the chairs sitting in her cobbled together wheelchair, fingers steepled before her scowling brown-furred face.

She, like Ter, had suffered a traumatic meeting with the fan the night we left. In her case it had broken her lower back leaving her paralyzed. Paralyzed or not, she was a force to be reckoned with, and I felt like a child as she pinned me to the wall with her gaze; much as she had done at our first meeting.

Gesturing to the chair next to her, she dropped her hands to her lap-blanket and growled, "Sit."

When I was seated she leaned forward and snarled from her wheelchair, "Well Mr. Frisby, it looks like the dreams you sold us on have all fallen apart. From what I've been able to learn it sounds as though the rat colony you had us pinning our hopes on was raided and prisoners taken. Is there any reason for continued hope that there is any place we can go that won't kill Terrance and I, and how long before one of the humans finds out what you did last night and starts suspecting something sinister is going on here?"

I shrugged saying, "It's true about the raid, but I was able to talk to one of the captives and he said that the fallback to Thorn Valley I told you about occurred. We can go there after I finish my business at the Fitzgibbon farm. In fact I plan to."

She snorted and pulled the blanket from her lap to show her shriveled legs and asked "And how do you suggest that I get there? By your own words it's at best a three to five day hike for healthy rats through the wilderness with an unsure welcome on our arrival? Will you carry me on your back Mr. Frisby? And what will we do if they turn us away? Will you then carry me back, and to what? Is the best future that I can look forward to life on the edge of a farm where the first snake or weasel that finds us will enjoy an easy and refreshing snack?"

Dropping her blanket back to her lap she snorted, "This is looking more like a mistake to me every day. I should have had you chased off when you first returned and asked for our help!"

I nodded saying, "You knew there would be risks, but the potential payoff is more than worth it. Do you want to spend the rest of your life in this duct? And what happens if you loose Ter and Pendra, and you know that their children likely will not stay here the rest of their lives? Do you think you could survive without their help? And finally, what happens if the humans find you? Is having Dr. Schultz cut you open to find out what makes you tick any worse than perhaps being eaten?"

She sighed and looked down with a bitter expression on her face, after a moment she growled, "I hate it that I can't dominate you, and that you speak too much truth."

Looking back up she asked "What do you plan to do this morning Mr. Frisby, set fire to the building?"

I chuckled saying "I intend to go back to the lab and wait for Julie and see what she's going to do. Hopefully we can make plans from there. I also intend to get Amanda to start feeling out her contacts in PATOA about an attack this Saturday night. If everything jells, we could be out of here by the Sunday morning."

Leana sighed and looked around "Just like that. My home, my security, everything I've known for years gone."

When she turned back to me I was shocked to see there were tears in her eyes as she said "Mr. Frisby, you are a storm crow, and I'm frightened out of my wits at what is going to happen." Dabbing at the corners of her eyes with her blanket she added "You had better bring me through this alive or I'll haunt you for the rest of your life!"

I took her calloused paw in mine and replied softly "How could I not?"

XXXX

I was waiting at the vent with Pendra, sipping at a bit of flat Coke taken from a crumpled can in the break room, when Julie arrived. She was pushing a cart carrying a group of three cages, a cooler, and a laptop case that she parked out of sight of the camera.

As the lights in the lab came up she called cheerily "Hello all. I'll be back after I check on the other animals, and I'm betting one of you needs another shot of morphine."

As she busied herself in the other room I saw the others stirring in their cages. Justin called "Are the cameras up?"

I called back "Yes, so don't even look this way." A second failure of the recorders would likely bring the problems to someone's attention and a service call made. A technician could perhaps see outside fingers in what had happened and recommend changing the passwords. That I couldn't afford this close to the escape.

At my words Justin tuned his attention to his comrades calling "Jenner, are you still with us?"

I heard a grunt from the far cage and Jenner growled after coughing, "Looks like my luck is better than yours Justin, I lived through the night, again."

Paying no mind to the sarcasm, Justin asked "How bad are your eye Jenner, can you see anything?"

There was a moment's pause, and then Jenner said, "I believe the drugs are helping. There's less pain, and I can now see some color rather than just shadows and flashes of light."

From the cages on the cart a rat's voice called "Hello? We want out!"

That's when the door opened and Julie came back in, locking the door behind her.

Coming to the cart, she moved the case to the table and setup the laptop, and then while the laptop booted, she went to the wall below us where I knew the camera was mounted and I heard a click as she said; "Got to love privacy switches for the government jobs. Now we'll not be disturbed."

Returning to the table she reached into a pocket in the front of the case and after a moment lifted out a mouse, carefully setting her on the table next to the laptop. I felt my jaw drop as Pendra grabbed my arm headless of her claws, though I hardly noticed.

The mouse was brown and white like me, and dressed in a short blue skirt and a white shirt. She was rail thin, standing upright, and leaning on a crutch. She limped over to the first cage in the line, and I could see by the way that she moved that there was something wrong with her left knee and shoulder. She looked into the cage saying tentatively "Hello?"

Justin came to the front of the cage, stood up, and looked down at her, but remained silent.

After looking at him for a moment she said, "You can talk if you can. The camera's off and Julie won't betray us."

Justin continued to remain silent, so she turned and limped a few steps as if going to the next cage, then stopped. Turning back she cocked her head and said slowly "I do know you. You've changed a good bit, but I remember you. You opened the cabinet that held our cages. You were thinner then and had a tag around your neck. I think….. Justin. Justin was your name, wasn't it?"

Justin sighed and replied, "Yes, it was me."

She smiled saying "If anything, you've gotten better looking."

When she said this, I remembered her as well. She'd been on one of the lower shelves and I didn't get to see her much, or speak to her at all except for a few minutes the night Justin let us out.

Julie asked, "You know him Lora?"

She turned and nodded, and Julie smiled saying "So he is one of the original A group. I thought as much. The one on the other end is likely an original as well. Can you check the other two?"

Lora nodded again and turning to Justin asking, "Are all four of you A group?"

Justin sighed and looking very hurt asked, "Why are you betraying us?"

She shook her head and answered, "I'm trying to help you if anything. Julie is my friend and has helped and protected me all these years. When she found me broken and nearly dead in a filter she could have turned me over to Doctor Schultz, but didn't then, and never will."

Looking back over her shoulder at the human as she worked with the laptop she said, "You couldn't ask for a better friend, human or otherwise."

Julie looked up and said "Laptop's up."

Lora smiled and limped over to it. Using her crutch, she started drawing on the track pad while on the screen words appeared in English, damming words saying, "Yes, I know him. He's the one that let us out the night A group escaped, and lead us up the ductwork. His name is Justin."

Julie came over and unlocked the cage saying, "It's a pleasure to meet you Justin. Please join us and talk to me if you can. I'd like to know who you are and figure out what we're going to do."

I saw Justin sigh, and then he came out and looked at the laptop like it was a poisonous snake before he finally went over to it. Bending down, he started drawing on the track pad with a finger and I heard Julie giggle as words appeared on the screen while Lora put a hand on his back.

Pendra was shivering and unresponsive when I turned to her. Taking her shoulder, I turned to her to face me and found she was paralyzed with fear. I had to shake her to get her attention. When she finally looked at me and I saw intelligence there rather than just unthinking terror; I said urgently, "Go! Get everyone, even Leana!"

She swallowed hard, then turned and bolted back down the duct as if the world was ending, and it might well be.

XXXX

Thankfully Justin didn't give us away. We were all holding our breath as he talked to the human through the laptop. He spun her a tale of the ragged survivors of A group having another bad year and having to split up. Some went to Hampton while some came to the Fitzgibbon farm and moved into an abandoned nest. All was truth, but skillfully spoken and rewoven to lead to incorrect conclusions. Telling the truth while misdirecting is truly the mark of a good politician, and frankly I didn't realize he had it in him.

Julie asked if any other members of A group had survived, and he replied that he had no idea who was alive or dead.

Lora patted his shoulder and with a sigh said softly "I'm so sorry Justin. I always hoped you guys were doing well and wondered what it would be like to be able to live out there in the world."

Biting at her lip she said, "Please, I know at least one mouse got out from the pictures of the roof vent, and two more were confirmed killed in the ducts, did any of the others get out, and what happened to those that did?"

Justin got back to his feet and looked down at her earnest face for a moment, then sighed and dropping his eyes to his feet said, "I can't tell you."

She nodded and dropped her eyes as well saying softly "Then I truly am all alone. The last mouse" and suddenly she hobbled away to stand leaning against the laptop case weeping.

Julie was alarmed and bent down to look at her saying "Are you ok Minnie Mouse? What can I do?

Lora just waved vaguely in her direction with one paw while covering her face with her other arm.

Julie turned to Justin as he started forwarded, an angry scowl lighting her face as she all but snarled, "What did you do to her!"

The fury in her voice made Justin stop dead in his tracks, then he turned back to the laptop and wrote, "She just asked if I knew of any other mice that survived and I had to tell her something she didn't want to hear."

Julie's face softened and she said, "Oh, I see. I'll give you guys a moment while I see to our burn victim, and I still need to know if the other two are A group. Somehow I think that female hellion isn't, so I'm not going to let her out."

With that she turned to Jenner's cage and taking him out, started treating his burns again, this time without the heavy gloves.

Justin was finally able to go to Lora, but stopped several steps away and looking very uncomfortable he said softy "I really am sorry. I honestly didn't want to tell you that, but I had no choice."

She sniffed and wiped her eyes on her shirtsleeve saying brokenly "I, I always hoped…. I always wanted to find someone else like me." She glanced at Julie where she was treating Jenner and said, "Julie's always been so good to me, but she's human. I can't look her in the eyes, I can't hold her hand, I can't even get a hug from her!"

I saw Justin's chin trembling as he stepped closer, dropped to one knee, and swept her into a hug saying "I'm soooo sorry."

She stiffened for a moment, then relaxed in his arms with a sigh.

At this point I turned away, knowing from personal experience what it was costing my friend to say what he had. Justin, old mister straight-shooter that had never told a lie in his life to my knowledge, forced into gray near lies and half-truths for the first time, and to a fragile vulnerable girl. I knew he had to be dying inside, and I felt my heart breaking for him.

Behind me I heard Amanda sniffling.


	7. Broken things

**Chapter 7 **

**_Broken things._**

We were back in the basement again. Julie had little time that morning to talk with Justin and the others, but did moved them to one of the abandoned basement labs and left the decoy rats in Dr. Schultz lab. Her plan was to tell him that Jenner had died during the night and that she had done a postmortem on him, presenting a body that she had acquired and prepped. This was the best that she could do as she said she couldn't bring herself to burn another living rat the way Jenner had been.

While she didn't know it, likely a normal rat burned that badly would not have lived. One of the side effects of the original NIMH treatments was that we could survive and heal from things that would have killed a normal rat or mouse. While we were tougher than normal, we were far from indestructible, as my friends could easily attest.

Julie said she wanted to smuggle them out of the building then and there, but wasn't sure how she could, and we were the cause of that. Nine years back Dr. Schultz had initially reported us stolen when he found the cages standing empty, and security had been improved. Now any container large enough to hold a mouse was examined at the exits, and she didn't dare leave a paper trail showing they had been checked out of the building. The only way she had been able to get Lora in and out was by smuggling her hidden in the battery compartment of one of those tiny LED flashlights.

The decoy rats and donor body had come from another lab in the same building doing behavioral studies on wild rats. While they had been counted when they were caught, the rats there had not yet been tagged and inventoried. She hoped that their absence would not be noticed for a while and when it was that it would be chalked up to a miscount. Considering our experience, I felt that was a good possibility.

When Justin suggested to her that they be turned loose to find their way out on their own, she countered that Jenner was in no condition to walk out, and wouldn't be for a week or better at best. To that he had no answer.

As a gesture of good will, she had not padlocked the cages when she left them, but warned that they should stay in them most of the time. That way if someone happened by, they would think the lab was being reactivated and that the rats were simply there as test subjects.

When I was sure they had finally left and the room was not under surveillance, I exited the ductwork into the ceiling. After a short search I found a broken ceiling tile, fixed my climbing line, and let myself down to the counter with the cages.

Justin and Sullivan greeted me warmly as I touched down while Toora lay next to Jenner in his cage offering comfort anytime he awoke, which wasn't often.

I smiled and shook my head as I looked up at Justin saying, "Brother Rat, you're talent was wasted as Guard rep on the Council. You danced around their questions in a way that would have left Nicodemus envious."

He sighed and shook his head sadly saying, "That was about the most horrible thing I've had to do since, well since I was forced to turn your request down Jonny Mouse."

I grimaced at the reminder of that still open wound between us and all the lies and half-truths I'd been forced to tell my family as Sullivan asked, "So, what ARE we going to do? I don't want to leave Jenner behind, but if Jonathan has a way to get out of here in just three days…."

Justin shook his head and, whiskers bristling, growled "We will not leave him. He may be a royal pain in the ass, and the cause of our present troubles, but he is still one of the Rats of NIMH so we don't abandon him."

Before I could ask what had happened to Jenner, Justin turned to me and asked, "What was your plan to get out of here Jonathan? Can we adapt it to get Jenner out too?"

I bit my lip, but nodded saying, "I think so, but that really depends on him and my friends. Two of the mice with me are unable to run, but both can hold on to something, I'm not sure he can with his paws like that."

Sullivan glanced back at the cage saying softly "I think that Toora could hold him by herself if it's not too long a haul. With our help we should be able to hang on to him or rig some sort of harness."

Justin nodded then asked the other question I'd been dreading "What about Lora? Do we leave her, and if we tell her what we are up to, do you think she will tell Julie?"

Sullivan added "And what about Julie and Dr. Schultz? Do we just walk away leaving them to start a search for us?"

I sighed and scrubbed my whiskers saying, "I wish I knew. I don't want to leave Lora, but if she tells Julie it could wreck all of our plans."

"And what are our plans?" asked Justin. "I don't like being in the dark."

I looked long and hard at him, and finally sighed "I don't think I should tell you. What you don't know you can't accidently let slip. Let's just say that if all goes well, we'll be getting out of here Saturday night and no one, not even Dr. Schultz, is going to suspect smart animals having caused it."

Justin looked at me closely for a moment, eyes narrowing, before, with ice in his voice, he finally asked, "Does this have anything to do with my not supporting your coming back here?"

I nodded saying "Honestly Justin it does, and honesty is just the problem. I know you, and I know what I've been forced to do. If that girl pens you into a corner where you'd have to lie to her face and she knows it, I'm not sure how well you can do it."

He looked at me and there was hostility in his eyes as his whiskers bristled and his fists clenched, then slowly he glanced around at the dusty cluttered room with its disorganized stacks of boxes and papers yellowed by age, and finally at his feet and I saw his fists unclench. After a long moment he sighed and said with a bitter chuckle "I guess that's a compliment in a way. You're saying that you think I'm TOO honest, rather than untrustworthy?"

Reaching up, I lightly punched him on the forearm saying "Zackly Brother Rat."

He gave a real laugh and replied, "I hope you're not saying I've got zackly disease Jonny Mouse" and I started laughing too while Sullivan watched us shaking his head in bewilderment.

We laughed and talked of happier times for a few minutes, and finally I asked, "Do you know what happen to Jenner?"

Justin shrugged and his expression hardened as he said "You remember I told you that it was Elizabeth that warned us of the coming NIMH raid? Well what caused that was Jenner's people that had fled to Hampton shortly after you supposedly died, and ending up in the local paper.

I blinked in shock asking, "How did he do that, and what happened?"

"Well, here's the story as I know it" he said thoughtfully.

"It was almost moving day on the farm when Mr. Fitzgibbon found that he needed a part for his tractor and went into town only to find that the home improvement side of Henderson's Hardware was closed indefinitely. While he was there he ran into Dr. Schultz and his people looking for information about some dead rats that the local paper had reported as having been somehow mechanized and killed in Henderson's.

"Mr. Fitzgibbon told Dr. Schultz about his problems with us getting past every defense he could place on his grain storage, so he sent out an assistant to investigate under the pretence of extermination.

"Elizabeth overheard Mr. Fitzgibbon telling his family about this over dinner and warned us while we were moving the cinderblock for her."

I held up a paw asking, "How did my wife overhear this? She never went anywhere near the house, and what does a cinderblock have to do with it?"

Justin looked a bit sheepish as he said "Actually her being in the house was because of a broken ankle. Mr. Ages started doing your job after we though you had died, but wasn't quite as fleet of foot as you and Dragon managed to break his ankle as he was getting back under cover. He was unavailable to put the sleeping powder in Dragon's food the night we were to move the cinderblock she was using as a winter house out of the way of the plow, so she volunteered to do it.

"On her way back to the hole you made in the floor, Billy caught her and put her in a cage."

I felt like my heart was going to stop as he told me this. Of all the horrors I'd gone through in my long life, captivity was high on my list of things to avoid. It was also something I'd hoped never to have in common with my lovely wife! Also if she had wintered in a cinderblock, perhaps she hadn't gone back to the barn, and that would really be bad!

Seeing my reaction, Justin reached out and squeezed my shoulder saying, "She was only in the cage for a short time before I could get her out, and she was very brave Jonathan. She did as well as you or Ages ever did at that dangerous job. It was just bad luck that Billy was where he was, or perhaps good luck as it turned out. If it hadn't been for his catching her, we'd have never known they were coming and Schultz would have us all now."

Sullivan looked a bit sheepish as he said "It was just bad luck that he has any of us. I guess I was too close to the entrance when they started the gas. One minute I'm listening at the entrance to the storage room, the next thing I know Brutus is trying to drag me away through the darkness and the world is spinning like mad. I honestly thought I was dying. I'm still not clear on how Justin ended up here with me rather than Brutus."

Justin shrugged saying "You've got to remember it was dark as pitch in there, so we were all just using our ears and noses. I heard you give the alarm and started out myself after taking a deep breath of clean air, but tripped over Brutus on my way out. He must have gotten a whiff of the gas too because he was disoriented and staggering, so I helped him to the back door. When we got there, he managed to tell me that someone else was back in the nest, so I went back."

Sullivan looked down at his feet saying "And you came back for me? I'm sorry, and thank you. You had no way to know it wasn't cyanide like we expected, so it was damn brave of you."

Justin looked embarrassed as he shrugged and scratched at the back of his head.

Seeing his embarrassment I broke the moment by asking "Why didn't Elizabeth winter in the barn as we did last year, and why didn't she just leave the block if the plow was coming?"

Justin shrugged "I haven't a clue why she changed winter homes. She mentioned that she'd found the block in the garden in the fall, and Arthur said it had dropped off the harrow when Mr. Fitzgibbon was turning the field under. I guess she thought it would make a better home as it was closer to the garden for gleaning and well insulated by being mostly buried.

"As to why we moved it, you remember I told you your son Timothy had come down with pneumonia and could not stand the cool air. He was out of the initial danger by moving day, but Ages feared he would die if he got chilled at your summer house, and the barn was getting unsafe during the day.

"I wish I could tell you he is OK now, but the best I can say is that we move the block to a safe spot and he was well the last I heard" he shrugged.

That made sense, but left a hollow feeling in my gut. I knew Ages knew his stuff and if he thought Timothy would survive, and it sounded as if they had done all they could, he should be OK. I'd also been counting on Elizabeth going back to our old quarters in the barn. With a sigh I changed the subject asking "How was it that Jenner left in the first place?"

Justin shook his head saying, "When you disappeared he still had a faction of followers, but they were not as strong as they had been when you were actively working in the Counsel with us. What finally caused the split was when Nicodemus put up for a vote the proposal that we should make a totally clean start by closing down and destroying the old nest in the rosebush, and in the process destroying all the tools we'd gotten from the toy tinker and all we'd built there. He told them, as he had you, that this was so there would be no temptation to return if things got hard in the valley, and that he felt that those things represented the strongest links with our past as thieves."

Sullivan nodded "A lot of us didn't agree with that, and the other changes Nicodemus started demanding of us. After all, we would be farming with stolen seed and using plows made with stolen tools and of stolen metal. I personally thought that Nicodemus was going too far when he proposed not only to cut our last lifeline at the farm before we harvested our first crop, but also to destroy tools beyond those that we could make for ourselves, but there weren't enough of us to sway the Council. Without you there to advocate moderation, they approved his amendments to the Plan by a slim majority."

Justin nodded saying "That last meeting came as close to all-out war as I had ever seen us Jonathan. Jenner was actually screaming at Nicodemus and pounding on the table with his fist demanding that he be left in charge of the Rosebush Colony as a fallback for the inevitable failure of the Plan, but that was when Nicodemus crossed his arms and said simply "May I offer you a shoe to pound Jenner, or should I call you Mr. Kruschev?" He then returned his attention to us saying, "This is why no one can be allowed to remain here, and this nest MUST be closed for good! If Jenner is left here, he will eventually end up in charge no matter who we leave as a caretaker, and he or his followers will end up doing something that will give this place away, and finally all of us and destroy our world."

Sullivan nodded "That was what decided me. As much as I disliked some aspects of the Plan, I could see that Nicodemus was right about Jenner calling down the wrath of the humans on us all. I cut my ties with Jenner's group then and there, just as most of his remaining followers did. The next day he fled with a small core of diehard supporters and malcontents and we didn't know any more about him till the warning.

"I think Arthur and I would have left to joined him had we not thought him dead on that last day. With the rush to move Nicodemus got almost all the changes to the Plan he wanted, and it was really bad for people like us and will likely damage our people in the long run."

Justin gave Sullivan a disapproving look before returning to his story saying "The day Jenner left Nicodemus sent me out with a group of guards to bring him back, but he had a head start on us. On the second day it rained and I lost their track."

Glancing at Sullivan he asked "When we evacuated would you have left behind people for a lath, drill press, or a book? We took what we could and you know that."

This caused Sullivan to eye Justin darkly, but he said nothing.

I noted this, but went on to ask Justin "Do you know what happened from there?"

Justin nodded to where Jenner slept "Bits and peaces he's told when awake.

"He and his people got to Hampton, but quickly discovered that they didn't have the numbers or tools to rebuild a life like they'd had, so they armed themselves and took over an existing nest in a market. They basically enslaved the rats there and put the smartest to work building Jenner an empire.

"Even without Arthur and his engineers, they were able to soon have power, heat, and running water and the rats they'd enslaved began to love the life their new king could provide them.

"Problem was, that good life allowed the colony to grow very quickly and Jenner had not been able or willing to discourage mating. With their normal subjects having full litters every few weeks and almost all the pups living, they soon were out of space, so he started an expansion project.

"During the development they found they needed more ventilation, so he sent Ralph and a crew of his smarter subjects to Henderson's to acquire a space heater for its blower. The team had a cart they'd built, a good assortment of stolen tools, and they were all dressed in guard uniforms."

I snorted, "No wonder they called them mechanized in the paper."

Justin nodded and continued, "They'd just finished disassembling the heater and loading it on the cart when someone noticed a new display of different size electric blower motors was being put together for the store. Being new, it would have been missed the moment the owners came in, so Ralph sent for Jenner to ask permission to take them.

"Jenner arrived and after a brief inspection, gave his blessing if the building was made to look like human kids had broken in, vandalized it, and had taken the display. He and Ralph were walking away discussing how to carry out the vandalism when someone shorted a line leading to the display. The discharge killed all the rats working on the display, but it also ignited a case of spray paint and other chemicals near by.

"He said the explosion was massive, and a fireball engulfed the interior of the building." With a sigh Justin continued, "The two of them were blown halfway through the building, and apparently Ralph took the worst of the blast. He died almost instantly.

"Jenner ended up blinded by the flash and had the wind knocked out of him by Ralph's body being blown into him from behind, but was mostly unharmed. He actually got most of his burns because he was blinded and disoriented, so couldn't find his way out of the fire. If it hadn't been for the sprinklers kicking on he likely would have died there and then.

"He was mostly dead by time some of the survivors that had been with the cart came straggling back to the nest and Toora found out what had happened. She actually ran into the smoke filled building and its several inches of water looking for him. Somehow she avoided the fire fighters, found him and dragged him, burnt, unconscious, and half drowned, back to the nest.

"Sandra examined him and did what she could, but she was no doctor. It didn't, however, take a doctor to know he was bad. Most of them didn't think he'd live out the night, and he most certainly wouldn't have survived being carried out on a litter as his scorched lungs were filling with fluid. They started to put him out of his miseries, but Toora wouldn't let them and actually drove them away.

"The other NIMH rats finally abandoned them with the nest, fighting over who would take Jenner's place as king, and took as many of their smarter unaltered servants with them as they could hold together. Jenner and Toora were left to their fates as the remaining rats drifted away.

"She tended him for about a week, keeping him in the dry air of the heater and he slowly got over his smoke and water inhalation. She was actually gathering supplies to leave when Dr. Schultz found the nest, gassed and took them captive as his assistants did Sullivan and I."

We were silent for a moment, but then I realized something and asked, "Was there a fallback position that the NIMH rats under Jenner would go to?"

Justin shrugged "He won't tell me for obvious reasons, and I haven't pushed, but likely the five of them and their followers are still out there somewhere trying to setup a new nest."

All this information left me with a lot of questions. As I returned to our nest and joined in the work of dismantling it, I went over the most important points in my head.

First, what had happened to the Plan after I left? Arthur was supposed to tap the stream that came down near the rock face where we were going to build for waterpower. His blueprints called for him to build a race and one or more overshot wheels to provide power for a mill, ventilation, and to run our laths and other power tools. Had Nicodemus decided to abandon that part of the Plan, and if so why?

Second, where were the rats that had abandoned the nest in Hampton? Would they return to the Fitzgibbon farm and try to setup there?

Finally, if they had returned to the farm, were my family and Ages safe, and what about Timothy?

I wanted answers to these questions desperately, but it would be weeks at least before I would know anything, including if Elizabeth had returned to our old winter quarters before she moved to the cinderblock.

XXXX

I was exhausted by lunchtime, and we'd barely scratched the surface. We only had three days to cover the fact that Ter and the others had been living in the ductwork nearly a decade and had accumulated a rather large amount of odds and ends. Some of the things were easily disposed of like bedding and extra clothing, but the heaver and bulky objects like books and the laptops required a lot of backbreaking work, as did stripping out the wiring plumbing and the like that they'd done. There were also keepsakes and mementos that had to be examined and the bonds to them broken one by one before goodbyes could be said.

I'd stopped at the little refrigerator we'd built out of a peltier device salvaged from a computer and a small styrofoam box to grab a bit of lettuce recovered from a discarded sandwich in the break room. As I picked up my lunch, I smiled at the small brown bottle nestled safely in the back and silently promised "Soon."

Munching my snack, I headed back to the disused lab to talk to Justin before returning to help with the cleanup.

Checking at the vent grill before going down into the lab I discovered that Lora was there talking to the rats again. I checked from several vents, but Julie wasn't anywhere to be seen. They were out sitting with their backs against Jenner's cage, a couple of snack cups with McDonald's logos on them full of fresh baby carrots and ranch dip close to hand. I noted with a chuckle that Toora was holding a stick for Jenner whose eyes were drooping, and as I watched he finally slumped against her and started snoring softly.

Justin asked while dipping a stick into the dressing "So, was anything left?"

Lora laughed and shook her head "No, the fire took his car down to the frame, and I'd blanked the memory card in his camera before setting the flair off just to be sure."

I felt Amanda settle next to me and smelled a potato chip as she started munching. When she saw Lora, I felt her tense up and she set the chip aside asking in a whisper "Where did she come from?"

I shook my head replying in kind "She was here when I got here. I'm guessing that Julie came back to meet with Doctor Frankenstein, and likely they've gone to lunch to mourn the loss of his car."

Below, Lora leaned back and giggled, "I've never done anything so exciting or so wicked before! I felt like Lora Croft!"

Sullivan shook his head saying, "I'm a bit surprised that your human friend would let you take such a risk."

Lora sighed, "Me to. She never has in the past, but there was no other way. She was almost in tears with worry when we got back to her office because I took so long."

She looked down at her stiffly jutting leg wrapped in what looked to be a small elastic bandage, then back up at Justin and gave a cheerless smile saying, "I guess it's just as well that there are no other mice. I don't know what she'd have done if I told her I wanted to leave."

I saw Justin grimace and look away as Sullivan asked with resignation, "So, what does your human have panned for us?"

Lora must have missed the bitter note in Sullivan's voice, because her face lit up and she said as she turned to him "I'm glad you asked. I wasn't sure how to tell you this, but she wanted me to tell you that you are all welcome to come live with us! There will never be any tests, and you'll never need to worry about food or cold again. You'll be safe for the rest of your lives and," she looked up at Justin with a wistful smile "I'll finally have a friend that can hug me and share my life."

Justin's return smile was brittle, and feeling a subsonic growl from Amanda, I placed a hand on her shoulder.

Lora's face fell and her paw came up to her mouth as she asked, "You… you don't want to?"

Justin sighed and I'd only seen him so wretched looking once. That was when he told me that he wouldn't help in my quest. Slowly he said "Lora, first and foremost, I want you to know that my desire not to live with Julie is not to say that I don't like or want you around. What I want is to be free. To live free.

"Do you remember what the testing was like?" he asked softly.

She nodded, still looking miserable as she said, "Yes, how could I ever forget something like that? I still have nightmares about the shocking maze" she finished with a shiver.

Justin nodded "Me too, and every human I've had contact with has inflicted pain or wanted me dead, wanted us dead" he said gesturing to Sullivan, Jenner, and Toora. "That's not something you get over in a day, or perhaps ever. Can you understand that?"

She nodded saying slowly with a glimmer of hope "I didn't forget, but I did forgive, and I know if you try you can too! Isn't a little short-term fear better than starving, or dying of the cold? Surly you couldn't want go back to that?"

Justin opened and closed his mouth several times, then looked down and said softly "I'll give it some thought, but maybe you should think about coming with us."

Her eyes narrowed and she asked "Come with you? Come with you where?" and I felt my heart start to race and almost shouted to him to stop! Beside me Amanda became very still.

Justin said softly "Lora, if we don't go to live with Julie, would you come with us, come with me into freedom?"

She gave a bitter laugh as she gestured to her left leg stuck out before her saying irritably "With this? Justin, I can't bend my knee! It was crushed so Julie had no choice but to wire it in place, and my shoulder joint was so badly damaged that I can only lift my left arm about half way. How could I run from a cat, or even walk for any distance?"

As he started to reply, she held up a paw to stop him and went on "Let me give you an example. When I cooked old Schultz's car, Julie dropped me off her foot at a bush about thirty yards from the car where a drain opens. It took me about fifteen minutes to climb down into the drain, about a ten-inch drop, and then limp to where the drain opened near his car. It then took me about thirty minutes to climb up, force my way into the trunk through a drain plug, and blank the memory card before setting off the flair. After all that, it took me nearly another thirty minutes to walk the length of the pipe back to that bush where she picked me up while watching the fire with everyone else. Likely that would have only taken one of you about fifteen or so minutes, for me it was over an hour of painful work!"

With tears in her eyes she continued, "After all that my knee was the size of a lima bean for about an hour and if I hadn't had access to anti-inflammatorys and pain relievers I wouldn't be here now." Flipping her tail around she showed off an angry rope burn on it as well and asked "How do you think I'd fair out there homeless among the predictors, unable to run and only just able to walk? And what about sleeping beauty there, you think he's going to last long half-blind and with his paws in that condition? Wandering out into the wilds is all but a death sentence for him!" she snarled, causing Toora to growl.

Justin shook his head sadly and sighed saying, "I understand, and you are right. It wouldn't be easy. Nothing good ever is, but I promise you this; if you'll think about coming I'll be there for you and I'll keep you from harm till you no longer want me to."

She looked up at him and there was such a look of hope and longing on her face that I felt my own eyes begin to tear up. Beside me Amanda silently got to her feet and walked away with her head down.

XXXX

About mid afternoon Leana called a progress meeting. When we were all gathered in her partly dismantled home, she nodded to me saying "I know you've been busy helping me Jonathan, and the rest of you can see the level of destruction he's accomplished here, so we'll move on" she said while a chuckle went around the gathering.

Turning to Pendra she asked "How are we doing on food? Do we need to lay in any more, and what of the pantry?"

Pendra gave a quick smile saying softly "We are about out of fresh foods, but I hope to grab some more this afternoon. I noticed a number of Subway sandwiches in the break room today and the wrappers are always full of lettuce and other goodies. I'll clear those before the custodians empty the cans tonight, and I've kept aside just enough storage in the traveling cooler for it. Everything else is in the dumpster.

"Our dry foods are in good shape," she continued "and I'll see to it that we are topped off before the end of the day Friday."

Leana nodded "Good, sounds like we are set in your department."

Looking at a list in her lap she asked "Terrance, did you finish modifying the harness for Ed?"

He nodded "Just this morning before I started dismantling my workshop. Weapons and the other gear are as ready as I can make them and I am slightly ahead of schedule on the dismantling. I will be ready."

Nodding, she turned to Merriest and frowned slightly in distaste before asking "How are our batteries?"

He grinned from where he was leaning against the side of the duct "All topped up, and the solar panels are good-to-go too. My electronics shop and all is dumped and clean. Just shout out and I'll be ready to party!" he all but yelled while, pumping his arm and nodding his head to music that only he could hear.

Leana gave a snort and rolled her eyes at the younger mouse's exuberance, before turning to Amanda asking "Are we set for additional cloaks, and how are our friends at PATOA feeling about Saturday?"

Amanda sighed, "We're OK I guess. I'm still finishing up the modifications to the black side of the cloak for Rambo, but should have it done by Saturday. Everything else is done. As soon as I finish I'll dump all the spare gear.

"As for the guys, well Meatless is trying to get Clubmenot to agree to Saturday, but he wants to make it Sunday so his cell will be at full strength, but Meatless knows we are go for Saturday, and Saturday only, so….. who knows?"

At the sight of Leana's bristling whiskers at her incomplete report on something so vital, Amanda snapped before she could say anything "You think you can do better, then be my guest!" whorled and started for the flap back to the main duct.

Merriest chucked, asking his sister softly as she passed "More bad advice from Ticker123?"

Amanda stopped dead in her tracks with all the color draining from her ears and tail. Slowly she turned to her brother, whiskers trembling and tail held stiffly. Before any of us could do anything, she slapped him hard enough to knock him from his feet and fled from the room!

Pendra shook herself free of the surprise first and ran after her daughter, while Merriest, in seeming shock, sat up and touched fingers to his face where four long lines of blood were beginning to show through his fur.

Behind me Leana sighed saying "I guess that ends our meeting. Dismissed."

XXXX

On my way to the custodian closet with another load of junk from Leana's room, I thought about Amanda and wondered what had happened to her. The last two days she'd gone from the happy-go-lucky and competent girl I knew well and counted as a friend, to a pensive young woman. Pausing to rest for a moment I heard faint voices from one of the side ducts and realized it was Amanda and Pendra talking.

Curious, I crept down the duct to where I could just see them in the dim light from a vent and hear what they were saying from the concealing darkness. Normally I wouldn't eavesdrop on friends like this, but too much was riding on everything going well Saturday and Amanda was a critical link in that.

Pendra sighed and patted her daughter's back where she clung to her, head on her mother's shoulder hiccupping occasionally. Apparently she'd been crying for some time as I heard Pendra ask "Do you want to talk about it now honey?"

Amanda sniffled and growled as she pulled back slightly to look at her mother saying "It's just not fair Momma! Why do we have to go? I…I know you want to, but this is my home! This is where we're safe and it's all I've ever known!"

Pendra wiped at the wet fur below her daughter's eyes replying softly, "I know sweetheart, but we aren't really safe here. Every day we run the risk of being caught in the break room foraging for food, or not getting our magnets down in time to avoid the fans spinning up, or any number of things that could harm us. I think the problem is that you know the threats here and have grown comfortable with them, or I should say you know most of them. You're too young to remember the renovation when we almost starved because the entire campus was closed, or the fire, but things out there are no more dangerous, just different."

Amanda sniffed, and stepping back, smoothed her whiskers as Pendra asked, "Who is Ticker123 sweetie?"

Amanda froze with one paw still gripping her whiskers, then dropped her head said evasively "She's a friend of mine."

Pendra cocked her head asking gently "Is she someone in another lab?"

There was a chuckle and finally Amanda answered, "No….. she's, like, well, ah…. a human Mamma. I've been chatting with her and her friends for about a year now."

Pendra looked stricken and I felt my heart drop to my feet!

Amanda went on while half formed questions flittered in my head "I met her in an online teen chat room, and we sort of hit it off, then she, like, introduced me to her friends, and, well suddenly I wasn't alone anymore."

Looking up she continued, "Like, you have dad, and when you can stand her, Leana, but me, I had, like, no one and I was soooo lonely Mamma."

Pendra, softly and gently, as though stepping through a minefield asked "Honey, do they have any idea you are a mouse?"

Amanda sputtered a laugh and shook her head "Good god no Momma, I'm not dumb! They think I'm a shut-in living in a small town in England. That covers any occasional slips I make when I don't know stuff, like some of the slang they use. Besides, they wouldn't believe me if I told them the truth and, like, I'd lose my only true friends outside of Sassy."

I sighed in relief and I could see Pendra relax as well as she asked "What did your brother mean about bad advice?"

She chuckled bitterly "Oh, I made the mistake of telling butthead how I felt about Jonathan and that Ticker thought it would be a good idea if I told him how I felt." She gave an impish smile saying "As she put it _You should lay your heart at his feet if you love him_."

I felt my heart hit my throat as Pendra asked "And how _**do**_ you feel about him?"

Amanda looked away for a moment, then looking her mother in the eye and said "I love him Mamma. How could I not? I was goina tell him how I felt, but then, like, the new guys showed up and before I knew it, we had that damn bottle of serum and everything was, like, falling apart!"

There were spots dancing before my eyes now and I felt my breath catching in my throat. What was I going to do! Would she consider destroying the serum if she saw it as the cause of her pain?

Pendra was silent for a moment, and then asked "And how do you think he feels about you?'

Amanda sighed, and suddenly with gathering speed she gushed "He treats me like a child Momma, and I hate that! I thought maybe with time he'd, like, love me back, but now that he's got the serum, well he'll go back to HER and forget me and I feel….. so… so used. So useless and alone! And you know what the worst thing about it is, I am truly alone, and I'll always be that way!" and tears started rolling down her cheeks again.

Between snuffles she added "I've been watching that Lora, and she's like me Mom. She's alone and will always be alone too, and that Justin is lying to her! Using her! I thought he was, like, so hansom and nice when I first saw him, and I was, like, soooo jealous when she started being nice to him, but he's gona break her heart and she'll be alone again with her only friend a human. God Momma, she's just like me, except that if I go Saturday, I'm going to lose my human friends and have no one left in my life but a cat, and maybe not even her!"

After a moment, she took her mothers paws, stood up straighter though tears were still running down her face and dripping from her whiskers as she said "Momma, I don't want to go with you guys. I'll help you get away, but there's nothing out there for me but loneliness. I could never be happy living in a hole in the ground with a stupid animal with the lifespan of gnat!"

Pendra looked stricken as she said, "I can't leave you here honey."

With a sigh Amanda said around her tears "Its OK Momma, you've got to take care of poppa. I'll stay here with Lora and we can, like, keep each other company. I can show her how to meet people on the web and we can dream of being human, and who knows. Maybe someday they'll make some more mice like us and we can steal ourselves some guys."

Pendra sniffed and pulled her daughter in for a hug, and I backed away with a heavy heart. I loved Amanda, but more like Teresa or Cynthia. I'd never thought of her as she apparently thought of me, and the thought of her left here was almost more than I could take. Maybe Justin would have some ideas, though the master of smooze was having his own problems just now.

XXXX

It was late Thursday night before I got back to the abandoned lab.

Jenner was looking better and he said when Julie had changed the bandages before leaving with Lora, he could wiggle most of his fingers and he had a bit more vision.

Sullivan had been digging around in the draws and found a number of things that could help in our escape attempt including a small laminated map that was only a few years out of date.

When Justin and I finally sat down to talk, I don't think ether of us really wanted to broche the subject that was at the tops of our hearts, so we just chatted as we had once long ago.

Finally we got around to some business and Justin gave a sigh saying, "So far, according to Julie, Dr. Schultz hasn't had time to do more than check on his lab. Apparently he's been on the phone most of the day with his insurance trying to explain the bills for his emergency room visit and his car.

"She said that the police report stated that the fire was caused by his negligence in storing out of date flairs improperly."

I chuckled, not feeling at all sympathetic to the doctor's plight as I asked, "Did any of his evidence survive the fire?"

Justin grinned while shaking his head saying, "Julie said that he was livid at loosing all that proof and a rather expensive camera. All he was able to save were a few discolored and warped bits of metal."

We had a good laugh at the doctor's expense before Justin finally asked "Jonathan, about Lora. Is it fair of me, of us, to try to take her out of here?"

I dropped my head and shook it saying, "I don't know Justin. I heard her at lunchtime and she is right that she couldn't outrun anything much faster than a snail.

"Life for a young mouse out there is not easy. Accident, predators, environment, all of it is trying to kill all life off, but we as mice are least well equipped to cope, especially if we are not at our best."

Looking up at my long-time friend, I finally nodded saying "Justin, I think she would live longer here, but I don't know if she would be better off. If I remember correctly she was about our age when caught, so, like us, she doesn't have any strong memories of the world before NIMH. Unlike us, she also hasn't had years of life in the company of her fellows to balance her time with humans."

"So, are you saying we should take her; or leave her with Julie?" he asked looking perplexed.

I shook my head "Justin, this is one of those cases that we used to argue about. A situation where there is no clear-cut right or wrong.

"Lora doesn't have anything to compare to the life she's living now, and she fears what would happen to her if she's forced to confront the unknown. Likely she has done nothing since she got over her wounds other than live and adsorbed human culture, so that simple confined life seems sweet to her compared to the cages and tests."

I waved a hand "I bet she's never seen a sunrise over a mountain range with her own eyes. Never tasted food picked fresh. Never even felt the dirt between her toes.

"I personally think she should come with us, and if you do too, make some excuse to have her stay here Saturday night. Before we're ready to go, I'll come down and introduce myself and you can tell her that she can spend the summer with us as a sort of vacation and if she doesn't like it we'll help her return to her friend Julie this Fall."

Justin looked at me and smiled saying "Whoa Jonny Mouse, where did that come from? Did you just pull that out of your rear, or have you been thinking about it?"

I sighed, "I've been thinking hard about these arguments because I have a similar problem. Amanda is talking about staying here at NIMH with Lora. She's frightened of the idea of leaving, and I've got another problem."

I swallowed hard and finally said "She's lonely and fixated on me as the only available mouse in the world."

Justin's brows shot up as he asked "And how do you feel about her?"

I grinned, "She's cute, but Elizabeth is my one true love and has been from the moment we first spoke to each other."

Justin nodded saying softly "Yea, you got lucky with her Jonathan, and I'd likely have shredded your ears if you told me you were going to leave her."

With a sigh he asked, "So, what are you going to do?"

I chuckled "Likely tell her a variant of what I've told you. Try it and if you don't like it, I'll be sure you get back here."

I saw Justin get a sparkle in his eye as he said, "You know, you should also mention your sons. They are growing up fast and it won't be long before they start looking for girls, and you never know. Perhaps she would hit it off with one of them."

That's when we both started grinning.

End Chapter 7


	8. Exodus

Chapter 8 _Exodus._

For me the days, and finally the hours flew by as we worked to clear the nest. I guess it was a bit of guilt that had me working so hard, but they really needed the help too.

Lora came to visit Justin each day and he told her edited versions of his experiences in the wilds. She seemed at times horrified, at times envious, but mostly she seemed fascinated. Of the many things they spoke of, nether broached the subject of going or staying again.

Jenner's health improved dramatically with proper care so that by Saturday morning it no longer looked like he could lose his paws, though he said Julie was still worried about two of his fingers. His vision improved to the point where he could see fuzzy outlines of his cage and the side of the table with one eye, but the vision from his other eye was likely gone for good.

My problem with Amanda was still unresolved and was like an open wound in my soul. I tried, as often as I could to talk to her, but she was always in the company of her brother or father when she couldn't avoid my company, and finally I had to admit to myself that she was avoiding talking to me. I finally resolved that I would do whatever it took to speak to her privately no later than evening.

Leana seemed to become more and more withdrawn as the time ticked down, and when I came to see her in her now almost empty duct, she looked very old and small sitting propped against one of the many plastic boxes of dry kibble. Her laptop and the lights were gone now, along with everything we weren't taking. The only light came from a disposable flashlight we'd salvaged that did nothing to soften the stark reality of what she had lost. Her chair had been packed earlier in the day, though we could be forced to leave it behind if things didn't line up as we hoped.

Looking up as I cleared my throat, she gave a bitter smile saying, "Mr. Frisby, I'd offer you a seat but someone seems to have thrown all of my furniture away."

I smiled and settled next to her on the raw metal of the duct asking "Anything you need?"

She shrugged "Legs that work would be nice; but if you don't happen to have any, I'll take a bit of lettuce if we have any left."

I started to get up, but she put a hand on my arm and with a pensive expression playing about her ears and whiskers asked "Jonathan, am I doing the right thing?"

I looked back at her in a bit of surprise. This was the first time she had ever used my first name; so I knew how important this question was to her and the flinty look that was her common persona was somewhat softened. Thinking for a moment; I asked myself what my mate would say, and came up empty. I finally shook my head sighing "Leana, I can't see the future anymore than you can, but I can tell you that it was only a matter of time before this place failed. You were both lucky and skilled to keep all the balls in the air as long as you have."

She nodded, and putting the mask of leader back on again said, "I do believe you are correct, but I wanted to hear it from someone else too.

"I do have one request, Mr. Frisby" she said with a serious expression.

I cocked my head saying, "Name it and I'll see what I can do."

She took a deep breath and finally said "I want your word of honor Mr. Frisby that you will not risk your life, or let anyone else risk theirs for me on this journey."

I started to deny that there could be any reason for worry, but she stopped me saying "I wasn't as young as you when I was brought here and remember the world out there, Mr. Frisby. I know it will not be easy for me, and the odds are only about even that I'll make it as far as this farm of yours if the others don't help us, but I want it. God help me, as frightened as I am, I now want it with every fiber of my being!" She smiled thinly "One last moment in the sun, quite literally."

I somehow found a smiled as I put a hand on her muscular shoulder and said "I'll see to it, and if I can arrange it you WILL see Thorn Valley and hopefully live there for many years. You have my word on that too."

I then got for her a last supper in what had been her home for most of her life.

XXXX

Amanda's laptop had been moved back into the storage closet where it would be abandoned again, but we were still using it. When I arrived, resolved that she would not avoid talking to me this time, I found her clicking away on the small keyboard she had built for herself. The USB circuit board under it was twice the size of the keyboard she'd built and looked about the same proportions as a laptop to a human. Next to her stood her mother watching in a bemused fashion as the text scrolled up the huge screen above our heads.

I stepped up to Pendra and asked softly "Can I speak to your daughter for a few minutes, alone?"

Her ears came up and she glanced at Amanda who was beginning to look like a trapped animal. After a moment, she nodded saying "I need to go finish up with the kibble if we don't want our friends eating us on the road" and left.

Amanda turned her full attention to the screen and I saw that it was displaying a chat room called Lonely Hearts and Ticker123 was one of the names there.

She flinched as I put a hand on her shoulder and asked, "Can we talk Amanda?"

Her nose and ears went scarlet and she had to try twice before saying "I, I really should take care of this. It's important."

I glanced up and saw that they were talking about someone named Grover21 and said "You can chat about him in a few minutes, but I want to talk to you about something very important to me before we leave."

She nodded once and typed to her friends that she'd "BRB" and I had to chuckle seeing her screen name was HouseMouse5.

When she turned to look at me I smiled and said "First thing I want to say is, thank you for everything you've done. Without you're help doing the setup, getting the serum would have been a lot harder. I honestly don't know that I could have done it alone and had I failed I would have lost my soul mate."

She blanched at that and looked down at her feet with a sigh.

Putting my fingers under her chin, I lifted her head so I could look her in the eyes and said seriously "Amanda, I care about you and must say if you were my age, I'd likely have had a tough time sorting out my feelings. As it stands, I have a father's request for you."

I saw her shoulders slump, then her brow knit and her drooping whiskers come up slightly as I spoke, and then she asked in confusion, "What do you mean?"

I smiled saying "You must have been lonely here Amanda. I know I was when my only companions were the rats. Anyway, if all works well we'll be at the farm in a bit over two weeks and, well, it's my sons Amanda. They are just maturing, but I have a feeling they will be as enchanted with you as I have been."

Emotions chased across her face like clouds before the moon as the fact that I was older and a father became real for her, then a light went on behind her eyes. I continued "You are more mature than they are emotionally at the moment, so I need you to be gentle with them. Also, while she is older, you are likely more mature than Lora considering how sheltered she's been and, if she comes with us as I hope, she's going to need your guidance when dealing with my sons and your brother, not to mention I think my daughters are going to be thrilled to finally have someone like themselves to call friend."

Putting my hands on her shoulders I smiled saying "You've been instrumental in helping us with this second great escape, and there's been a lot of weight on your shoulders these past months, so I hate asking you for more, but this is something only you can help me with. Now that you understand my dilemma, will you help?"

I saw and felt her shoulders square up, then she smiled saying "Sure, I'd be happy to… Jonathan" as she stroked her whiskers in thought. Finally cocking her head she asked, "Do you really think they'll like me, ah… us?"

I smiled, and while giving her a hug, answered, "Yes, I can't imagine anyone not loving you."

XXXX

I was still feeling on top of the world that evening as we finished dumping the last of the things we weren't taking with us or could see any need for. Amanda was again happy, and she did act more mature in the afternoon meeting, not even rising to the bait her brother tossed at her.

She told us at the meeting that her PATOA contacts were ready to go at 10:00PM. That Alfred and Artie had their people ready, but that Ghost and his rats were balking.

My good feelings vanished at her words and, as I knew she would, Leana tuned to me asking "Can you speak to them again, Jonathan?"

I gave a long-suffering sigh saying, "I'll go as soon as the building closes."

XXXX

As night fell outside, I checked on Dr. Schultz office and lab on the way, and was only slightly surprised to find the heavily bandaged Schultz pulling a late Saturday shift in the lab, and looking very perplexed at the results of his tests. Hopefully he would leave before it got much later.

In the disused lab I found Lora was still visiting, and considering the time, figured that Justin might have been successful in getting her to stay the night. The possibility that Julie could be pulling one of her rare late Saturdays too crossed my mind, but I dismissed it. In all the months I'd been here, I'd only seen her working late on a Saturday a hand full of times, and never after dark.

Finally at seven thirty, I couldn't put it off any longer, even if Dr. Schultz was still in the next room I had to talk to Ghost. Dropping back down the interior of the wall I exited under the dog cages again. Moving to the right but staying close to the wall where I wouldn't be seen, I stopped and sat under the rat cages and called "Ghost! Are you awake up there?"

There was a long pause, and then Ghost replied "Hello, Jonathan. I guess Amanda told you of our decision?"

I sighed saying "I thought we'd gotten all this worked out last week. Why did you change your mind now?"

Shamoo answered for him saying, "We aren't made for the outside, Jonathan. We'd only slow you down."

Bell laughed, "You just don't want to be away from your food dish, lard butt."

Shamoo growled "You said you didn't want to go either miss prissy, so why are you attacking me?"

"Because its fun…. lard butt" she replied and started giggling.

Ghost sighed "Just leave us Jonathan, we'll be fine."

Going to the corner where the back edge of the cage met the wall, I poked my head up and could see Shamoo near the front of his cage. Shamoo was huge, even larger than Brutus. He weighed in at nearly three pounds, and only about a quarter of that was fat. He, like the other rats in this test batch, was an albino, snow white fur and pink eyes, but unlike them he had an unending hunger, was still slowly growing, and was well on his way to being the size of a Rex rabbit. Dr. Schultz had picked lab rats to test this time rather than ferals like us, trying to observe his original serum's reaction in animals with a known genetic history but Shamoo had thrown a wrench into his observations. He thought Shamoo's size and appetite had something to do with his albino traits interacting with the serum, but like everything else about the serum, he wasn't sure and was reluctant to call in help in his analysis.

The dogs and cats were just a side experiment to see if the serum only worked with rodents, but it seems to have worked just as well on them. At seven years of age, none of them were showing any signs of ageing, and the only limit on their intelligence seemed to be the same as ours had been, lack of opportunity.

Schultz knew the batch of animal he had now were more intelligent than average. They couldn't hide that, but he had no clue just how intelligent they were.

Dr. Schultz had also never been able to discover what it was about that one bottle of serum that made it work. He did overcome his paranoia of someone stealing his work long enough to send out minute quantities for analysis and was able to learn it was some sort of contaminate, but he'd been unable to isolate what it was. He'd reproduced the chemicals and molecular structures in it, but try what he would he just did not get it to work the same in his new batches as they did in the old.

Shamoo waddled over and sat looking at me with his eerie pink eyes as I said "You know we can't leave you here in the cages? It'd look funny if you guys were still here when the cages around you were empted."

He nodded as Ghost called from above "We'll go with you for a bit, but we won't leave the building. When it's all over, we'll let the doctor find us and return us to our homes."

I shook my head saying, "If you stay here, it's just a matter of time before Schultz kills you and cuts you up. You know that don't you?"

"Yes", Ghost replied "but it will be a quick, almost painless, end. Out there we would be the targets of any predator with eyes, while being slowly cooked and blinded by the sun. Better to stay here and enjoy life while we can than die slowly in a struggle we can't win."

"Look Ghost", I growled "we've got dark cloaks for you four to keep the sun and prying eyes off of you, and you are not the only ones that are handicapped in this group. We'll take care of you!"

Ghost snorted and replied, "We've made up our minds Jonathan. We stay."

I looked up and sighed asking, "Do you all feel the same?"

There was a chorus of four yeses and I knew they would likely stay, but the one thing I could say for these rats was that they changed their minds easily. In an hour they could be ready to go with us again.

From the cage next to them I heard Ed snort and growl, "Hurf, I wasn't looking forward to having that lard butted rat riding on my back anyway" causing Bell to burst into giggling again. Shamoo snarled back "Well, at least both my eyes look at the same thing at the same time you ass!" and I left knowing that Shamoo and Ed would soon be at it and would likely attract the attention of the doctor as he tried to figure out what was going on with his cranky test animals. I had a feeling we'd miss Shamoo's strength and size along the way, but there was no way to force him to come.

XXXX

At nine o'clock I was back at the vent leading to the disused lab. I noted with a smile that Lora was still sitting with Justin and Sullivan as they spun stories of our travels in the wild world. Jenner and Toora were sitting together silently watching. Likely the stories were new and exciting for Toora as well as Lora, but in a different way. For her it would be the novel ways of solving problems that had bedeviled rats from the beginning of time.

Plucking up my courage, I headed to the broken ceiling tile where I'd stashed the packs of gear we'd need for the next stage in this endeavor, and was surprised to find Amanda waiting for me at the hole.

She held up a paw saying "I know you want to do this on your own, but at the moment I don't have anything to do and I'd like to help. Besides, I think Lora'd be happier talking to a girl about this than a bunch of strange guys."

I was a bit worried about what would happen if Julie came in as it's more than twice as hard to hide two as it is one and what Amanda could say, but she did have a point and the time for stealth was almost over. Finally I nodded and grinned saying "Ok. Grab a pack, and thank you."

She smiled back, picked up one of the bulging packs, slipping it over her shoulders, and then we set our climbing lines and started down.

About half way to the table I heard Justin stop spinning his tale about 'The Gardener and the Cat' saying, "I think it's time guys."

Lora's clear voice asked "Time? Time for what?" then she must have seen us as we dropped like a set of large furry spiders and I heard an "Oh!", then we were down.

Glancing over as I disconnected my belaying gear, I saw them all watching and Justin said "Lora, I would like to introduce you to someone you may or may not remember, Jonathan Frisby, and the young lady with him is Amanda Fog."

Lora's nose and ears had gone bone white while she teetered as if ready to faint. Justin steadied her with a paw on her good shoulder while we started forward saying "I'm sorry I couldn't tell you sooner, but there was too much riding on this to risk you telling your human friend."

She blinked and looked up at Justin with wide hurt eyes and finally said softly "You lied to me?" then furry filled her voice as she all but screamed, "You lied to me!" while tears started running down her face.

Before Justin could respond, she pulled herself free of his grasp and hobbled a few steps away from us all.

Amanda shook her head as she handed me her packs saying sagely, "Aww man, like, I knew this was gona happen. I'll talk to her and see if I can do any good. You take care of them" then walked over to where the older mouse stood facing away from us with her shoulders shaking.

I turned to Justin and tossed him one of the packs Amanda had given me saying "Do you know when Julie's coming back?"

After a moment he shook himself and sighed "No, not a clue. The clock in here isn't working, but she said she'd be late, whatever that means."

I nodded, surprised but not shocked "No help for it. In less than an hour we're out of here."

Thinking of the time, I pulled the cheap woman's wristwatch from my tunic and checked the time. I'd salvaged it when its former owner tossed it in the trash because it was scratched and the band was broken. With just a bit of work on the case, the tiny watch now served me quite admirably as a pocket watch, and what it told me left me frowning. There's never enough time when you're working to someone else's schedule.

Putting the watch away, I said with a slight grin "Likely you're about tired of being a nudist so you'll be happy for what we've got in the packs, though Amanda had to guess at the sizes. Help me pass this stuff out if you would, and the two larger packs are for you and Sullivan to use. Food shouldn't be a problem, so don't worry about packing the kibble, just what you've found here and Jenner's meds."

In the packs were long shirts and tunics of dark green or black, and black cloaks, made from fabric carefully gleaned from the bottoms of furniture, some abandoned coats, and a black umbrella. Also there were belts with sheathed knives made from scalpel blades and climbing gear as well. Justin and Sullivan made delighted sounds as they dug through the gear, but it took Jenner and Sullivan both to persuade Toora to put any clothing on. They finally got her to don a cloak to breakup her outline, but she was far from happy complaining that it would catch on things.

Leaning over to Justin I said softly behind my hand "Even money she slips the clasp the first time one of us isn't watching."

He smiled slightly at my jest as he fastened the belt and settled the blade at his hip, making him look more like my friend again than a rat off of the street. But the smile faded quickly as he glanced back to where Lora and Amanda were now watching us. Lora's face fur was wet about her eyes, her expression hard. At her side Amanda was speaking urgently in a hushed voice with a worried expression.

With a sigh I reached up and patted Justin on the arm before turning and taking a step in the direction of the girls, only to feel Justin place a restraining paw on my shoulder saying, "I should take care of this. I'm the one that hurt her."

I shook my head saying "Not entirely. I asked you to do it, so it was both of us, Brother Rat. If you like, we'll do it together."

I felt Justin squeeze my shoulder and after a moment he said softly "I should never have let politics come between us, Johnny Mouse. I promise you that it's never going to happen again."

I felt a lump in my throat and turning back, I punched him lightly in the arm as we shared a smile and my vision misted up. For a moment it felt as if we were back to the early days before all the political infighting started to tear our friendship apart, and damn it felt good!

Finally Justin nodded at the girls and said, "I could never keep a lady waiting, much less two. Shall we go take our lumps?"

"You first" I said with a slight chuckle "that way if there's flying blood and bone; I can still run for it."

"Thanks" he grumbled as he stepped forward.

Lora had a strange combination of fire and anguish in her shining eyes when we stopped before her, and before we could say a word she snarled, "How could you do this to me Justin! I trusted you!" She looked down and all but whispered "I was willing to spend the night with you."

Lora may only have been a third of Justin's size, but he wilted under that assault like an ice cube hit by a flamethrower, but before he could speak I stepped forward saying "Lora, we had no choice but to keep you in the dark. We had no idea if we could trust you. For all we knew after nearly ten years you could be suffering Stockholm syndrome, but even so; we couldn't leave without offering to take you with us. That's why Justin was so insistent that you stay the night, not to take advantage of you but so we could make this offer.

"If things fall apart and you betray us now, we might still get away. It may not be as easy as if we had just abandoned you, just not as impossible as it would have been if you betrayed us a few days ago."

She turned her angry eyes to me, but before she could say anything, Amanda said softly "As hard as it is Lora, I can, like, totally understand if you can't forgive us, but I hope you can find it in your heart to. We want desperately to get away before we're caught and like Jonathan says, we couldn't take the chance that you'd tell on us. It was never to hurt you."

Lora turned to Amanda to speak, but Amanda continued "My dad got torn up by the fan just like you, but it took his eyes too, and our leader, Leana, she, like, had her back broken and stuff. How do you think old doc Schultz would treat them if he got his scalpel swinging hands on em?

"He, like, scares the crap out of me, same as you, so tell me how you'd have done things different than us?"

Lora opened and shut her mouth several times and finally, placing a hand on her chest, said, "I don't know, but I wouldn't have done what you did! I wouldn't have hurt you guys like you have me!"

Justin cleared his throat and said, "I'm sorry Lora, but how this came about is not as important at the moment as your answer to the question of will you come with us? I'll offer you this to think about as well. If you decide to come with us and don't like it, I'll do my level best to bring you back here to Julie, as long as you promise to keep who and what you see to your self. When you see, you will understand."

I nodded adding "You've got a window of little less than an hour to consider our offer Lora. When things start to happen, it's going to be almost impossible to stop, so think about it and be ready to stick with your decision for a while once you make it.

She looked bewildered as I turned to Justin saying, "We've got to go. There's a lot to do in the next few minutes, and it's going to take us some time to get into place. When the lights go out, be ready to move."

"Move where?" he asked, glancing back to the lab door.

"Up there" I said pointing up. "Pendra will be there to guide you, and you'll find a harness waiting you can use to pull up Jenner; and Lora if she decides to come."

With that I turned and swarmed back up the line with Amanda at my heals. We went our separate ways at then, I headed out of the basement along the tunnel that leads to the middle of the campus, and the main electrical substation at a run, while Amanda headed up to the forth floor to get our friends ready.

XXXX

The underground substation was hot, only dimly lit by a grimy work light I'd turned on, and I could almost feel the magnetic field from the buzzing transformers as I'd passed them. I was perched on a corner strut that held one of the glass insulators securing the underground power lines feeding the substation. Around the corner the lines went on for a few more feet before disappearing into a smaller conduit, and eventually connecting to the mains. Over the preceding months we'd prepared those power lines by carefully stripping away the insulation where they hung above a metal drain grill designed to keep any water coming out of the conduit from reaching the substation. We'd also weakened all the cables that held the insulators to the struts so that hopefully just cutting a few more strands from one cable would cause a cascade failure of the cable supports, dropping the exposed wire on the drain grill.

In one hand I had my watch; watching as it ticked down the minutes. In the other and propped on my shoulder was an axe Ter had made for me from a small wedge of stainless steel.

As the watch ticked up to 9:50 PM, I put it back into my breast pocket, checked my safety line, and then started hacking at the remaining strands of the cable like some deranged lumberjack.

The work was hard and slower than I expected, but under my axe first one then another of the remaining aluminum strands parted with an angry discordant twangs, but long after I expected it to fail, the line still held!

I paused to wipe the sweat from my paws on my tunic and glanced again at the watch. It was already 10:12PM and I started to worry. Would the PATOA people continue to wait, or would they leave? They weren't the most reliable group in the world, and we had promised to kill the power for their animal rescue raid on the hour. With the hour now come and gone, they could be feeling betrayed and leave before I finished my work!

With no other choice, I hefted the axe and started hacking at another strand. I was about half way through it when I heard a groan below me! Quickly I scurried down the strut to the small ledge that ran around the edges of the substation. Pressing my back to the rough concrete wall I covered my eyes against the expected explosion, but after a long moment nothing happened. Peaking between my fingers I saw the cable still stubbornly holding the lines up, and with a sigh I started back down the strut to the insulator.

Perhaps it was the slight vibrations of my movements, or perhaps it just took a moment for the stress to stretch the remaining strands of the cable to the breaking point, whatever the cause there was another groan, a twang of a snapping strand, then another! I scurried back and covered my eyes again just in time!

There were two final snaps, a loud series of bangs as the cable dropped free of the other insulators and fell the three feet to hit the floor, and then all hell broke loose around the corner from me! Through my fingers and eyelids I could see an almost intolerable light, a blast of heat that scorched my fur blasted around the corner, and an unbelievably loud roaring exploded at me like the breath of a volcano, but only for a moment. As fast as the maelstrom had started it ended when a breaker somewhere up the line kicked out.

With the silence I found the air was filled with ozone and vaporized copper, making it hard to breathe. My eyes started to water, and my ears were ringing to the point where I wondered if I'd been deafened!

When I squinted between my fingers, the substation wasn't dark as I'd expected. From my left a white almost foggy smoke was joining the black greasy smoke from my right where a transformer had started burning with ruddy orange flames!

Coughing and gagging in the smoke, I jammed the axe in my belt, and then leaped back to the conduit to building twelve. Decorum be damned, I dropped to all fours and I ran as fast as my legs would take me! Soon the air in the conduit would become unbreathable, and I had to be out before that happened!

XXXX

The only way I could tell that I was back in the basement of building twelve was when the air became less thick with smoke. The safety light in the power room hadn't come on, so I almost overshot the turn in the cable in my headlong flight. If I had, it would have been a five-foot drop to the floor!

Gulping in great lungfulls of the cleaner air, I found the duct that lead to our soon to be abandoned nest and ran as best I could along it. A few lights were shining through vents, some emergency lights on batteries, some running on the backup generator. Each was a pool of light in the stygian darkness and helped me along my way.

When I arrived all but spent at the nest, I found it lighted by the small disposable flashlight, but otherwise empty. If things had gone as planned, Pendra should have been waiting here with Justin and the others from the abandoned lab.

Unsure what had gone wrong, I decided to check the closest possibility first. Turning the flashlight off so its beam couldn't expose me, I tucked it under one arm and I headed to the abandoned lab at as brisk a walk as I dared.

I heard the problem before I arrived as the voice of Toora snarled, "Too fast, he can not see! You want him to fall and hurt paws again?"

"Hello" I called "Pendra, are you there?"

"Jonathan!" she cried in relief "we need your help!"

I came forward and turned on the flashlight while facing it to the floor of the duct to keep the light from showing from any of the vents. In the dim light I found Pendra leading a ragged line of rats and one limping mouse along the duct.

Pendra sagged and asked "How are we on time?"

"Late" I growled, and saw her cringe.

Getting my anger under control I said "My fault, not yours. The cable was stronger than I thought it would be and took a lot more time than I expected. I also started a real fire."

Pulling out my watch, I saw it was nearly half past already. As the minute hand hit the six, the fire alarm started ringing!

With a twitch of a smile I said, "Well, Amanda's on time." Looking up I continued, "We need to move people. You've got to get to the first floor loading docks before the fire department gets here."

Jenner rasped, "I don't think I can do it, Jonathan."

I looked up to snap at him and found that he was leaning heavily on Toora with his right arm about her neck. Under his stubbly fur his skin was dead white while the bandages on his left paw were stained with blood and his breath was rasping.

He blinked, saying heavily "I'm sorry, but I think this is just about as far as I can go, dear boy."

Toora looked down at him where he sagged against her and growled, "You will not give up, or I stay with you. You will die here, I will die here, and our pups will die here too."

I felt my jaw drop and every eye turned to Toora and the just noticeable budge in her abdomen, all except for Jenner. For several moments he just swayed there, then he blinked and his wobbling head snapped around to look up at her. "Pups?" he asked feebly, and if anything he lost more color.

She cocked her head and looked at him as if to say _'Well, what did you think would happen?'_

I couldn't help myself and chuckled as Jenner looked at Toora in what was a mixed bag of pain, horror, and perhaps something else.

Shaking my head I broke the spell and said, "It's not that much farther to our old nest and I think there's still enough cloth left there to build a makeshift stretcher for our dad-to-be."

Jenner nodded, and there was a ghost of the look of determination I'd seen across the conference room table on many occasions as he'd argued passionately with us about the Plan. After a moment and without a word, we started off at as brisk a pace as he could maintain. I did notice that Justin had given Toora his pack and taken her place as Jenner's living crutch. I doubt that he had forgiven Jenner, but he did have a big heart. What Lora was thinking as she watched his back in silence was anyone's guess.

XXXX

We did find enough cloth to make a litter of sorts for Jenner, and he'd lost enough weight so that Sullivan and Justin were able to carry it. I left Pendra to lead them at the turnoff to the loading docks and I headed up to the forth floor, hopefully for the last time.

When I arrived at the door in the duct to Dr. Schultz's animal holding room, I heard shouting and banging over the constant razzing of the fire alarms. Moving down to the vent, I looked out and saw in the dim emergency lights three black-clad teenagers in ski masks and the doctor facing off. I notice at a glance that the cages were all empty and Amanda was nowhere to be seen, but what had my full attention was the doctor. He was holding a gun and screeching as he waved it "I don't care how you feel about tests! My animals are dangerous! Didn't you ignorant children see "28 Days Later" or is the limit of your exposure to popular culture "Whale Wars"?

One of them, a girl from the sound of her quavering voice, said "Look mister, when we opened the door the cages were already open and they nearly knocked us down getting out of the room! And why did you have them in those black bags? Some sort of evil test you were running?"

One of the boys said "You're one sick dude. I saw that mouse head you'd grafted to that cat and the rat heads sticking out of the bag on that dog. That was like totally nasty!"

I'd heard all I needed to know that Amanda and the others were on their way and was turning to leave as I heard Julie's voice asking from the hallway, "What's going on… OH!" and there was a loud thump, and the sound of running feet!

Looking back out the grill I could see Julie down on the floor and Dr. Schultz standing over her looking back down the hallway. He razed his fist and yelled "Damned tree hugging imbeciles!" before reaching down to help Julie to her feet.

She took in the gun, then the open cages as she straitened her dress and glasses asking "What's happened, and where's the fire?"

Schultz snarled, "I doubt there is one, and we've got to catch them!" as he pushed past Julie.

She turned to follow asking, "Catch who? Those kids?"

The Doctor's voice came to me faintly as he hurried down the hallway "NO! To hell with the kids, it's the animals! They're getting away again! Somehow they got out of their cages and even put a wedge under the door to my lab so I couldn't open it! If it hadn't been for those damn kids, I'd still be stuck in there!

"Where the hell are you going?" he snarled.

The last thing I heard as I dashed back down the duct was Julie calling back "The basement! I've got to check on something!"

I had a bad feeling I knew where the three spooked PATOA members were heading, and leading the doctor. They'd likely return to where we'd arranged for them to get into the building, and where we hoped to exit. Loading dock four on the first level! I had to get there first and warn my friends, and somehow protect the serum!

End Chapter 8


	9. Flight into darkness

**Chapter 9**

_**Flight into darkness.**_

I missed three turns on my way back down to the loading docks, but figured that I would still have a good chance of getting there before the humans. My rout was more direct than the winding stairways they had to take with the power out and the elevators locked out in fire mode.

When I arrived at the vent we'd loosened, I found it pushed aside and climbing cables on their quick releases ready to go. Below me was a room some thirty feet wide and sixty long full of shelving. The shelves about a quarter full of pallets and cardboard boxes. The backup lights in here were starting to fail as their batteries that likely had never been replaced were exhausted and the room was falling into gloomy darkness.

The swinging door twenty feet below me and about fifteen feet to my left opened and six lumpy black shapes came padding in on four legs and quickly joined the tiny shapes clustered about the boxes on the bottom shelves below.

Belaying down my line, I arrived to find Alfred, Shasta, Rambo, and Ed were sitting and panting, their cloaks now pulled aside to expose the harnesses strapped to their bodies. Amanda and her familywere busy, with the help of Ghost and his rats loading the harnesses with boxes of kibble and other heaver goods, while Leana was making herself comfortable in the harness behind Alfred's head. Justin and his party were looking a bit lost and eyeing Artie and Sassywith concern where they lay panting, while Lora stood back watching it all with a bemused and somewhat sad expression.

Finally touching down, I ran over tugging off my harness and calling over the buzz of the fire alarm "Listen up everyone! The PATOA's let Doctor Schultz out of his lab and likely they are leading him this way! He's also armed with a handgun, so forget any cover-up. We've got to go ASAP!"

Turning I called "Ghost, Marie, Shamoo, Bell, Lora, we need you to make up your minds right now! When we leave this building," I said pointing at the loading dock doors "there won't be a second chance! I beg you, come with us, and come back later if you want to because I think Schultz is ready to shoot first and take prisoners among any survivors!"

Ed looked over at Shamoo while Bell and Merriest were strapping the little cooler on his back. His lazy eye was almost but not quite looking at me as he said to his friend "Hey Shamoo, um, look buddy, I'd like you to come with us. I may make fun of you at times, but you've been my friend for years, and I don't want to leave you here."

Shamoo reached up and patted Ed on the muzzle saying, "Thanks big guy, but that world out there is yours, not mine. Go and play in the water, or chase cars but watch out for that screwed up depth perception of yours; or you may just catch one."

Ed gave a snort, but his mismatched eyes were shining as he watched Shamoo turn and heft a box up to Shasta's back.

I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to find Lora standing there with an expression of sadness on her face. I smiled and asked, "Come to a decision yet?"

She nodded once saying "It'll break Julie's heart when she finds the note I left her, but I'm going with you."

Shasta turned her big brown cocker spaniel eyes to us and asked, "You know Julie? I like her! She was nice to me. Brought me treats and brushed me. She made the hurting go away when Schultz tested me. Schultz is a bad man!" she said with her muzzle wrinkling up.

Lora smiled as she looked up at the dog saying "You must be Shasta. Julie told me about you and how she wanted to get you out of the lab, but could never figure out a way. Looks like you found a way of your own."

Whatever Shasta would have said in reply, we'll never know. There was a booming sound as the door to the hallway slammed open again. All our heads snapped around and we saw seven human kids dressed in black come dashing into the room. Four of them were pushing carts piled high with cages filled with rats, mice, and rabbits and they were all talking excitedly. Among the babbling I heard "… gun and acted like he was going to shoot us!"

One of the leaders slapped at the control for a loading dock door saying "That's it then guys. We get the hell out of here before some geezer kills one of us!" With a squeaking rumble the door started rolling up on the emergency power. As soon as it was up about four feet they started running out into the darkness whooping and yelling as they pushed the piled cages into the open back of a battered panel truck backed up to the doors.

I looked back and asked "Are we ready?"

Leana, only her cloak-covered head and shoulders showing above the pocket sewn into Alfred's cloak replied "Last of the boxes are being loaded now Mr. Frisby. Your burned friend is strapped in on Rambo along with his girlfriend and Terrance. I have a space for Lora up here with me."

Amanda yelled, "Done here! Sassy, I'm on my way!" as she pulled the last strap tight on Shasta.

I called "Ghost, last chance!" as Shamoo and Bell helped Lora up under Alfred's cloak.

He called back as he started for the door to the hallway with Marie at his side "Good luck Jonathan. We'll remember you."

They were only a few feet from the door when it slammed open and a panting, wildly rumpled, Dr. Schultz stood there panting. His eyes roamed the room under his sweat-dripping hair, then locked on Ghost and Marie where they stood rooted in horror before him. He razed the gun and fired in one swift motion. The sound of the shot was somewhat muffled by the fire alarm, and poorly aimed. The bullet hit between the two unmoving rats and dug a small gouge in the cement floor before ricocheting around the room. The sound of the bouncing bullet released us from the shock of the moment and we all started scrambling!

Ghost and Marie started to turn and run when a second shot split Ghost in two and I screamed "GO GO GO! HEAD FOR THE DOORS NOW!" Outside the kids started yelling and pulled down the door on the back of a truck and pulled away with a roar and squealing tires.

Shasta scrambled to her feet as I leaped to her back, and Shamoo let out a screech as Ed grabbed him and ran for the door with his rat friend dangling from his jaws! Bell was clinging to Alfred's harness for dear life as he started galloping for the door as well! Sassy bolted past Shasta and I, and dropping her head, scooped up Amanda in one swift movement before turning for the door with a loud scrabbling of claws just behind Artie!

Marie was running for the door for all she was worth as another bullet splashed the concrete where she had been a second before and I knew with a sinking heart she wouldn't make it! I tried to think of something to help her, but there was nothing we could do! All we could do was to try to save our selves!

To my left I heard Bell start screaming, and sparing a glance, saw Lora clinging to one of her hands and trying to pull her up farther into Alfred's harness as her feet scrabbled for a hold!

The gun barked again as we neared the halfway point to the doors, the truck sped off for the rear gate. In the distance the sounds of sirens began to add to the cacophony as the fire department and possibly police arrived on the campus.

The gun spoke again and glancing back I saw Marie was down in a growing pool of blood with most of her left shoulder and arm missing. The doctor, now gripping the gun with both hands, was raising it to aim our way! To my horror I saw the gun center and start tracking Artie and I started to scream a warning, but before I could do anything a large shape in a paisley dress slammed into the doctor's back knocking him from his feet, and in shock I realized it had to be Julie!

They went down in a rolling mass as we neared the door, but Shasta suddenly veered away and I found my mount suddenly heading back to the rolling mass of humans. She was growling and barking wordlessly as well while behind us I heard Lora scream "JULIE!"

There was a muffled shot, Julie screamed and rolled away, and the doctor managed to scramble to his feet! We were almost two yards away and Shasta must have been traveling flat out when I felt her leap! For a moment we were weightless as she twisted in mid air, then she slam into the doctor's chest with all four feet and shoved with all her might! It was all I could do just to hang on when the careening Shasta hit the floor hard and struggled not to roll over on me! As we skidded to a stop, I could see Schultz had pitched backwards under the impact of thirty plus pounds of dog and gear and had slammed head first into the shelving!

Shasta struggled to her feet and turned quickly to where Julie lay. She was on her side holding her forearm with tears streaming down her scarlet face. Shasta, distraught and whining, came up to her and nuzzled and licked Julie's cheek trying to comfort her.

Julie opened her eyes asking "Shasta?" between sobs, then I saw her eyes widen as she saw me holding onto the harness on Shasta's shoulders.

Levering herself up with her good arm, she looked at us, taking in the cloak and harness, and I in my patched and stained tunic, cloak, and shirt with wonder, then the doctor gave a groan and we all turned to see him moving feebly, try to rise to his hands and knees, then drop to his face.

I could feel Shasta's fur bristle under the cloak as she growled and took a step toward the doctor, but Julie said "No, leave him Shasta! I saw Lora's letter," she said as she struggled to her feet "and if you're going, you need to do it now!"

Whining, Shasta glanced at the door, then back to Julie.

Face now white with shock and pain Julie continued "When he wakes up, he's going to be after you, but if you hurt or kill him there will be a lot more than just one man with a wounded ego after you, and I may be able to help a bit, if you will let me" she said while inspecting her arm.

I glanced back and saw the others hovering at the door as Julie looked back up and said, "If you'll trust me, I'll try to help you get as far away as I can. Do you want my help?"

Shasta moved to her, and jumping up, carefully placed a paw on Julie's dangling hand and nodded.

Julie nodded back saying "Then we need to get to my van. It's not far and I can get you a good way down the road, hopefully before he comes around, and there are things, things I need to tell you. Things you all need to know."

I pleaded, "Shasta, I know how you feel, but we can't trust her! She's one of them!"

Shasta fell in at Julie's side as she started for the door and replied, "She's not a bad person. She was always kind to us, and we're the only reason she is still working with Dr. Schultz. She will not betray us Jonathan; I know it in my heart!"

We paused at Marie's body, but there was nothing we could do. Mercifully, she had died quickly from shock and blood loss.

At the door the others pulled back from us, but Shasta said, "No no, it's OK guys. She stopped the doctor from shooting! Got hurt! She is a friend! You can ask the mouse if you doubt me."

Lora called "I trust her, and have trusted her with my life for years. She will not betray us."

Julie watched the, to her, incomprehensible conversation bemused as the others commented, but interrupted looking down at us saying "I hate to breakup your planning session, but we need to go before anyone figures out what's going on. Do you have a place to go?"

Grudgingly, I nodded and pointed north.

Julie nodded saying as she wrapped a scarf around where the bullet had grazed her arm "I'll take you as far as I can, but I'm going to need to get my arm looked at soon. Will a thirty-minute ride help you? That should give me enough time to tell you what I need to without me losing too much blood."

We wouldn't need nearly that long a ride to get to our first stop, but it would make things simpler so I nodded again and we were off.

XXXX

Julie had one of those minivans that crowd the roads, sometimes packed with children on the way to sporting events, or painters going to their jobs with unsafe numbers of ladders stacked on top. In other words, it was totally unremarkable in its appearance. Unfortunately it was not a panel van so had windows all the way around. We hunkered down in the back under our cloaks as she started the motor and I heard Jenner grumble softly "From the frying pan to the fire."

"Interesting words for you to choose Mr. Jenner" replied Leana, and someone snickered.

The van started forward and I saw flashing blue and red lights paint the interior as we passed the center of the campus and Julie said over the noise of the idling fire trucks "Looks like they have the fire under control, and the road to the gate is open. Stay down guys."

A few moments later Julie rolled down the window as the van came to a stop and a man's voice accompanied by the beam of a flashlight said, "Quite a night isn't it doctor."

"Yes, very" Julie replied.

The man's voice said, "Let me lift the gate. Not even the backup power's getting up here, so I've got to do it all by hand."

The light disappeared, then there was a grunt accompanied by a creaking sound. The van moved forward and the man's voice came again saying "You OK doc. You don't look so good."

Julie replied "I'm fine, just the excitement. Good night Jake."

Jake asked, "Is that blood on your steering wheel doc?" just a Julie gunned the van!

I scampered up the console between the seats to the dash, and pointed to the right as we came to the main road.

"Right it is," she said as we moved off down the four-lane at a somewhat reckless speed.

"Look guys" she said softly "there's a flash drive in my purse that you need to take with you. Don't let Dr. Schultz get it because it explains what I think happened to the original batch of serum. How it was contaminated with my RNA, mitochondrial DNA, and an enzyme I was working with to unzip samples of my DNA for my doctoral thesis."

She gave a smile that was more a grimace than anything as she said "It took me the better part of eight years and improvements in technology to figure out just what may have happened. How, after doing its job, the enzyme broke down during heating and refrigeration cycles. But I still don't understand how it combines with other DNA and RNA and flags dominance."

She grimaced as her arm was stressed as we rounded a corner and continued "It's been harder and harder to keep Dr. Schultz in the dark, to lead him down wrong paths of research and keep him concerned over others stealing his work. He may be a psychologist by training, but he's a smart man and has been teaching himself about DNA and molecular biology.

"Oh, God this hurts!" she said as tears trickled down her face. The entire sleeve of her blouse was red now, and I wondered just how much blood she was loosing.

Gaining control over the pain, she continued between clenched teeth "What was I saying? Oh, well anyway Doctor Schultz always wondered why I took such good care of you guys. Ha, well I had to don't you see?"

She glanced down as Lora joined me with Justin's help, and a true smile lit her face "There you are Lora!"

I held up my hands and made a slowing gesture while pointing to her left and she said as she slowed the van and flipped on the turn signal "I may not have given birth to you in the traditional sense, but a good mother's got to protect her children doesn't she?"

I felt my jaw drop as she said this and the pieces of what she said fell together, and I heard the others murmuring in the background in shock and denial.

Lora grabbed my arm saying, "You see! I told you we could trust her! Now it all makes since why she spent so much time teaching me about genetics, biology, and the like! I thought it was just so she could talk shop with me."

Julie smiled fondly at Lora as we slowly moved down the bumpy road running past the rail yard saying, "I guess from what I can hear that you are beginning to understand Lora. That flash drive has the information you need, and I've given you the understanding to use it. Take it as my legacy to you."

She sighed and said softly "I probably should have told you sooner what I puzzled out Lora, but the time just never seemed right. I don't know how the world will judge my actions, but I've done what I had to, to try to make things right."

I motioned her to pull over as she said "One day, likely not that far into the future, we're going to have visitors from other worlds come to this one. I bet they'll feel as far advanced from us, as we think we are from you for now. I just hope they understand that we are no more animals to be experimented on and tormented than I think you are."

She punched the button to open the sliding side door as we crunched to a stop on the gravel shoulder. As the door opened, she reached into her purse with her good hand and pulled out the small silver flash drive and handed it carefully to Lora while passing a cell phone to Justin.

With a smile and a gentle brush of her finger against Lora's cheek she said, "Go with my love, daughter" while tears rolled unchecked down both their cheeks.

XXXX

Justin and I almost had to carry Lora from the van, but with Julie's insistence we finally got her out. As the door closed she called to us "Lora has my phone number and email address. Don't use them for a while, and you may want to pull the battery from that phone so it cant be located, but if you ever need me, I'll be there for you" and the door closed with a click. The motor revved, and the van moved off into the darkness, rounded a corner, and was gone.

The cool of the night air felt strange on my nose and ears after so long, but very welcome as I turned back to the group saying, "We have about two hours to wait for our train, and I think we need to find a place to hold up and talk."

"Have you been here before Jonathan?" asked Justin as he looked around at the rundown rail yard and dilapidated warehouses around us.

"Once" I replied. "When I first arrived I scouted the place out. There's a breaker's yard across the tracks that would be a good place to hide this time of night. About five hundred yards that way" I said pointing.

Alfred glanced back sniffing the air, then nodded saying "Let's get out of the open then. I think I hear sirens" and a moment later I did too!

Directing them by memory, we ducked under a fence where water had eroded the earth at a drainpipe. Thankfully it had been a few days since the last rain, so the bank was dry and easily climbed.

Shortly after we'd gotten past the fence, three police cars zoomed passed the yard, and only a fool would think it didn't have something to do with the events back at NIMH. Thankfully they continued past without slowing.

The yard itself was as dirty and confusing as I remembered, but much easier to cross and navigate on Shasta's back. Yard engines were shunting freight cars from point to point with clanging, loud thumps and the roar of engines. There were humans there too, moving about in small groups laughing and talking as they connected pneumatic couplings and unlocking parking brakes on the rolling stock.

Likely they never saw us, or much of anything outside of the pools of their flashlights, or if they did they paid us no heed as we stayed well away from them. To them, we probably appeared to be just another pack of dogs roaming the yard looking for scraps of food, or a fight.

The breaker's yard was still there, and full of defunked railcars and other equipment waiting for recycling, but quiet this time of night. We picked a freight car that was off its wheels with its doors open not far from where we entered.

Inside it was dark, but relatively clean and we were able to move to the back and gathered around for an impromptu meeting.

Alfred and Leana moved to the middle of the circle we formed and called Artie up as well. Leana cleared her throat and said softly "I think I speak for us all when I say that I am truly sorry for the loss of Ghost and Marie. Shamoo and Bell, if you wish; you may accompany us."

Shamoo had a hand on Bell's shoulder while tears dripped unheeded down her whiskers. He cleared his throat and spoke with a cracking voice saying, "Thank you Leana, it seems we have no choice now. I don't want to go back to MIMH anymore, and I think Bell feels the same" and she managed to nodded between sobs.

Artie held up a paw saying "Sassy and I could go our own way now as we originally agreed, and getting away from you would likely be our best bet to stay free, but….." He grinned toothily "There always seem to be a 'but' does there not? But, it seems we would have no one to talk to. While it would be nice to live for a while lounging and just enjoying, eventually it would grow stale, so I will go with you."

Sassy rubbed her cheek on Amanda, nearly knocking her down, and giggled, saying, "I'm glad you said that old man. I'd have hated to tell you goodbye, cause I'm not leaving my little buddy here." She cocked her head asking "Who would I get to scratch that place under my jaw that claws just don't seem to satisfy? And how would I ever open a can of food with these?" she said holding up a paw.

Artie nodded and turned to Alfred asking "What of you dogs? Will you go your own way now?"

Glancing back over his shoulder to Leana, he nodded saying "I agree with Artie that we could do better on our own, but I think that we would be better off in the country rather than here in the city where we could be more easily caught. I think we should go on to the Fitzgibbon's farm and aid the others in the process before we consider splitting up. Any thoughts?" he asked scanning his small pack.

Shasta stepped forwarded and said softly "Yes, I have a thought." She looked around "There is something that you all seem to have totally discounted in your cold hard calculations. That is we are all family here. Some of you I have not met before, but from what we just learned, WE are all Julie's children, be we rat, mouse, cat, or dog. That makes us all brothers and sisters in a way, or at the least bound by blood. Would any of you turn your backs on a brother or sister in need?"

There was silence as we all digested this, but finally Leana leaned forward and said, "You shame us all girl. I think we should all help one another as we can." She grinned thinly "As she pointed out, we are all family."

XXXX

For the most part we spent the time waiting quietly, most lost in our own thoughts. Bell cried herself to sleep curled against Shamoo and hugging her tail to her chest. Sullivan and Toora rewrapped Jenner's paws and tried to keep him warm, but my old opponent looked just about used up. As I watched him sagging against Toora I wondered if he would make it as far as the train that would take us out of here. Then again Jenner was not one to give up easily. Perhaps that determination of spirit he'd always shown would give him the strength to overcome the deficiencies of his wounded body.

With Jenner seen to as much as possible, I moved on to check our other wounded souls. Lora and Amanda were sitting together, leaning against Sassy. The three were talking quietly, but fell silent as I stepped up. Sitting near them, but not touching the cat I asked, "How are you holding up Lora?"

She smiled, but that smile didn't touch the hard edge of her eyes. "Just wonderful Jonathan" she snarled as she held up her paw and folded her fingers one by one saying "In just a few minutes I've lost my home and my best friend, seen two people murdered and my friend, that I may never see again, drive off bleeding from a gunshot wound with the police after her. All in all, it's been a wonderful night for me. How's it been for you?"

I winced and sighed, "Yea, I guess I deserved that, but you didn't have to come."

She shook her head and gave a bitter chuckle "After what happened at the loading dock I had no choice. First, do you think Julie's home will not be searched? The doctor knows she helped you guys, so he will ether hound her himself, or he will get a warrant on some trumped up charge to go in and search. It'll be months before I could possibly go home at best."

Dropping her eyes she continued in a sad voice "There's also those damned stories. Even if it weren't for the danger, do you think I could have gone home after all the stories Justin spun for me?"

Looking me in the eyes she continued "All my life I've lived in cages Jonathan. My first memories were of a pet shop where my brothers and sisters were sold around me, likely most of them ended up as animal food. Then finally I came to NIMH and the tests, fear, and more cages, then I was caged again just when I was on the edge of freedom by this" she said patting her crutch.

With a sigh she continued "Julie was very good to me, but I realized after hearing those stories that my home was again a cage. A bigger cage with gilded bars, but a cage none the less."

She gave a sniff and her eyes dropped again as she said softly "Amanda told me why you were at NIMH, for love. The only love I've ever known was a dim memory of my family, and the kindness and caring of a human." Looking back up she asked "Can you imagine what it would be like to have never held or been held by someone that loves you, to never have felt arms around you comforting you when you're hurt or afraid?"

She looked down again and her voice softened "Under all of the storied Sullivan and Justin told me were the underpinnings of love, caring, of being a part of something bigger than your self. I want that, and that's the other reason I couldn't go home, Jonathan." She looked up and there was intensity in her misty brown eyes "I need that. Just once in my life I want to be part of the life that I've been denied from the time I was taken from my family."

Amanda put her arm around Lora, and cat or not, I went to her and gave her a hug as well.

XXXX

When the time ran down to eleven thirty, we moved to the siding where the train that would be heading out for the mountains at midnight had been assembled. We moved down the line of cars till we found an auto hauler. It was designed to keep people from getting at the cars and opening the doors, but not to keep passengers like us out. It was an easy jump for the cats to inspect the car and soon Sassy returned and Amanda signaled from her back that it was safe to jump up.

Alfred had problems getting up because he was so heavily laden, but we finally rearranged our gear so he could join us.

Making a small meal, we then settled in for the ride in a sheltered spot between two huge SUVs.

Dawn came slowly through a thick cloud cover and the day promised to be hot and sticky, but at fifty miles per hour that wouldn't be a problem for us for part of the day. What was a problem were the solar cells. Merriest laid them out, but they were only providing half of what they should. This wouldn't have been a problem, but the third set of batteries had been left behind in the excitement of our escape. Without them we had no margin for slow charging of the batteries, and the small cooler containing the serum would run out of power sometime in the middle of the night. From what we had learned, if the temperature of the serum were to climb to fifty for more than a few minutes it would breakdown and that would be the end of all my hopes and dreams. We had to find an alternative!

Lora was the one that saved the day for me. She was watching me pace with my hands clasped behind my back and nibbling my whiskers when she said, "Perhaps I have an idea that may help you."

Stopping, I looked at her saying "Please, anything that doesn't force me to break into a shop and take batteries!"

She smiled slightly saying "Maybe the time I spent watching MacGyver will pay off for you Jonathan."

Pointing up she said "Cars have batteries, right? And we are surrounded by…"

I looked up and slapped myself on the forehead "Right!"

I called "Merriest, can we tap off of the batteries in these SUVs?"

He paused where he'd been wiping at the solar cells, looked over, and a big smile lit his face.

By the time we pulled into the rail yard in Culpepper, all our batteries were recharged and repacked.

Carefully we left the train and moved into the abandoned cement factory next to it to wait for nightfall and our next connection.

The place was more dilapidated than I remembered. Three of the six silos had collapsed and kudzu was covering most of the structures. The office complex was almost totally ransacked with all the windows, doors, and other fixtures broken or gone, but it was shelter and the second floor gave us a good view of the surrounding wreckage.

XXXX

As night fell, so did something else, rain. It came down in buckets splattering in through the empty windows and dribbling through the leaky roof. The rain was both a blessing and a curse. As nasty as it was, no one would be moving around out there, but if it continued, it would make travel the next day not just miserable, but more dangerous.

We settled in to wait out the storm, but all I could think of was how badly the events of the day had gone, and of Elizabeth and my children. Now that I was on the way, I begrudged every seconds delay that kept me from them and when I wasn't thinking about them, the loss of two of our number weighing heavily on my mind.

Justin found me sitting in a window with a ragged awning that protected it from most of the blowing rain. A pile of fallen plasterboard from above made a ramp most of the way up to the empty frame.

"Penny for your thoughts" he said with a bit of his normal bravo as he jumped the last foot up next to me.

I sighed, "Save your money old friend, and pull up a seat."

With a chuckle he plunked himself down next to me saying "Glad you didn't take me up on that. I'm fresh out of pennies."

Tossing a sliver of broken glass out into the night he asked "So, you seem to have this all planned out, where to next Johnny Mouse? Or are you still keeping things from me?"

I glanced over and sighed bitterly "My plan didn't seem to work so well back at NIMH. Rather than a clean escape in the confusion, we were seen and two of us killed."

Justin patted me on the back saying, "Your plan would have worked, if Schultz hadn't been working late because of us. Even then it wouldn't have been too bad if the kids hadn't let him out. All that was just good-old bad luck."

Giving my shoulder a squeeze he continued, "It was a damn good plan Jonathan, and the part about using humans to distract other humans was inspired. I think we'd be fools not to continue with it, and you."

Feeling somewhat cheered, I nodded and said, "There's a delivery service with a shipping and receiving lot about two blocks from here. The next step in my plan calls for us to stowaway on one of their flatbed trucks bound for Charlottesville. From there it's a three-day layover for the next train to take us to Roanoke. Finally it's all walking overland to the edge of the forest, same as the last time."

I saw Justin nod in the glimmer from the distant streetlamps before he asked "Do you think we can get them all there?"

"I wish I knew" I sighed. "I don't know about the strain on Jenner. He's made it this far, but as weak as he is, he could die on us even if the dogs stay and continue to volunteer as our mounts. If they go their own way, I fear we'd be forced to make some horrible choices."

Justin nodded, asking, "If it comes down to leaving Jenner and the other disabled members of this party, or your serum, what will you do?"

I looked over at the dark outline of my friend and sighed "God help me if it comes to that Brother Rat. The best option out of that situation would be to leave the serum hidden somewhere and bring Elizabeth back, IF I can get home under those conditions. Then there's the question of how well I could hide the serum and how long that jury-rigged cooler could continue to run."

I shook my head with a sigh and we sat for several minutes in silence, just watching the rainfall and enjoying the peacefulness of it while thinking grim thoughts, then we heard "A little help here if you don't mind."

I think we were both startled as we turned to look down to where the voice came from and found Lora leaning on her crutch and looking up at us. Justin grinned and dropped down next to her, grasped her by the hips, he hoisted her up to the window ledge in one quick fluid move.

She gave a small squeak of surprise as she found her self suddenly standing next to me, then straitened her skirt and cloak before carefully sitting. I smiled and said over the hiss and drumming of the rain "Careful what you ask for. Justin can hardly resist playing Lancelot."

She chuckled replying "So I see" as Justin returned and sat at her other side with a smile.

After a moment she said softly, "I guess it's a good thing that I found you both together. It gives me a chance to apologies to you both at the same time. I've been a bit…. less than pleasant over the last day. I was hurt, frightened, and lashed out. For that I apologize.

"I understand why you did what you did, and though it hurts my pride to say it, when I step back and look at the situation objectively, I think I'd have done the same thing."

I think I beat Justin to the punch by just a fraction when I said, "Thank you, and if you can forgive us, I think we'd both be happy to forgive you."

She chuckled again saying "Done and done" bringing a smile to us all.

After a moment she contenued, a bit unsurely "There was another thing that I've been thinking about that I wanted to discuss with you two, if you don't mind."

Justin cocked his head saying "You may fire when ready Grizzly."

She stopped for a moment, just looking at Justin with a lopsided smile, shook her head, and finally said, "Anyway, what I'm concerned about is where we are going. Have ether of you thought much about that?"

I nodded with my brow wrinkling as I said, "I thought we'd made that clear, and honestly it's all I think about."

She nodded and dismissed my statement with a wave of her paw saying, "I know our destination, but have you thought about the ramifications with what happened back at NIMH?"

Justin nodded slowly and with a slight groan said, "I think I know where you are going with this."

She smiled slightly and looking out at the rain said, "I have a feeling that we are not the only ones with our eyes tuned that direction. Dr. Schultz likely saw Jenner and Justin at the loading dock. As soon as he exhausts the territory around NIMH, he will likely start searching at the nest in Hampton where he caught Jenner and Toora and work his way out looking for us, or more of your people."

I groaned as well as my mind raced ahead "I see what you are saying. We have an unknown window of opportunity. If he is able to clear things up and marshal his support, he could get there before us."

Justin put his hand over his eyes saying "If he goes back to the farm and digs down just three feet below our storage room, he'll find the lower works of the nest full of, well everything that made it our home. Most of it we couldn't destroy or move out, and I doubt that Nicodemus would send anyone back to open it up till the harvest is in and they have some free time."

Looking out at the falling rain, I dropped my head as I said softly "I think we're screwed."

End of Part 2

End Chapter 9


	10. Reunions

**Part 3. **

**In The Bramble. **

**Chapter 10 **

**_Reunions._**

Jonathan:

I could hardly believe my eyes as I looked into the dark farmyard. After all our struggles to get here and find them, there was Ages picking himself up, a bloody cut on his shoulder and another on his flank, but I only noted that in passing. What held almost my entire conscious mind was the dark female shape in the familiar red cloak that had been knocked aside and collapsed a short distance from him!

Dropping to all fours, I dashed to her side and found that it was as I'd half hoped, half dreaded, Elizabeth! Drawing her into my arms, I franticly checked her for wounds as Justin dropped to one knee beside me asking in a voice colored with the dread that filled my heart "Is she….."

I shook my head saying in a shaken but relieved voice "No, just fainted I think, but she came sooo close!"

I glanced over to see Ages paralyzed with fear as Amanda called from his side "This guy's banged up, but he should be OK. What say we get them inside where we can get a little light?" while behind her Sassy sat watching my old friend over her shoulder with wide eyes and a Cheshire cat grin.

I called "Sassy, give the poor mouse some air before he faints too!"

There came a moan from my lap and I returned my attention to Elizabeth as I felt her twitch, then her dimly seen eyes fluttered open and she asked in a halting voice "Jonathan, is… is it really you, and Justin too? Am I dead?"

I hugged her close and felt my eyes misting up as I growled "Yes, it's really me love and no you are far from dead. I've come home, home to you!" I said through a throat so tight it felt like it could suffocate me.

Elizabeth gave an inarticulate cry and wrapped her arms about my neck smothering me with licks and kisses, and that was more than I could take. I started weeping like a child myself!

The others gave us some time, seeing to Ages while Elizabeth and I cried and made inarticulate sounds that only we could interpret, but finally we started get a grip on ourselves and I asked with more than a little worry " Elizabeth, where are the children, and is Timmy OK?"

She scrubbed her nose with her arm saying between sniffles "They, they should be at the old thrashing machine, and Timmy is much better. We were driven out of our home this morning" she said with a shudder, but there was a note of anger under her words I had never heard from her before.

I nodded grimly as a ghost of the fear that had gripped me earlier today returned "We found the summerhouse empty this afternoon and, and…." and I found I couldn't go on.

Justin put a hand on my shoulder finishing with a nearly dead-flat voice "For a while we thought you all might have been killed with the others."

"Killed, others?" she asked and sat up straighter in my arms.

Justin nodded saying woodenly "We found Ages house ransacked, then followed Jonathan to your summer home and found it recently disserted. We decided to wait there for a while to see if you'd turn up, but Shasta smelled blood on the wind. When she sniffed it out, we found seventeen mice, dead. They'd been bound, then their throats had been slashed."

I was worried how she would take this, and half expected her to faint again. But to my surprise she only sighed sadly while a dimly seen look of grim anger and determination unlike any I'd seen her use before crossed her face. Finally she said, "We should get back under cover. I think I know what happened to the others and we don't want them finding us."

She then slowly started to her feet, and I jumped up and offered a hand. Taking it, I could just see her answering smile in the moonlight.

When we were both standing, she asked softly while looking at Alfred and Sassy "Who are these, these….. people Jonathan?"

Before I could answer Ages stepped up and grumbled, "For the best day I've had in long weeks, I seem to be getting rather roughed up." Wincing as he rolled a lacerated shoulder he added, "When we have more time, I think I am going to ether strangle you or kiss you my dear boy, but for now…." he said with a grin as he thrust out his paw. Ignoring the paw, I gently embraced my old friend as a rather strident voice called from the door "I hope you don't still snore the way you did when you were in the cage next to mine you old reprobate!"

Ages froze and whispered almost fearfully "Leana?"

Pulling free, he limped over to where she sat in her chair and stared at her with his mouth dangling open like the catch of the day. Behind her Terrance, Pendra, and Laura gathered to greet their old companion.

Turning away to where Elizabeth was watching the other mice in fascination, I said softly "Justin tells me you know about NIMH now?"

Returning her attention to me she nodded saying "Nicodemus told me much, but" and here her eyes narrowed and her voice hardened, dropping to almost a whisper as her paw squeezed mine "I still have questions, a lot of questions, and this time there had better be only truth from you!" she finished with fire in her hushed voice.

Justin, apparently feeling much to close to something personal that could turn nasty quickly, kicked at the dirt, crossed his arms, and found something fascinating to study in the old weather-stained boards on the side of the barn.

I swallowed hard and nodded, replying softly "They can't hurt us now, so as soon as we have time, I'll tell you everything."

She nodded, and taking that as a chance to change back to the original subject I made a sweeping gesture from where Amanda was leaning on Sassy to where Alfred was sitting and said in a louder voice "These people were at NIMH and I couldn't just leave them. Some are from the original twenty-eight, others from later experiments."

She nodded and asked "And I guess Justin must have ended up there after they gassed the nest and it wasn't, what's the word, cyanide?"

I was a bit shocked that she had put that together so quickly and easily, as well as the angry words earlier. It seemed that Elizabeth had grown a lot in my absence and that perhaps Justin's warning about her intelligence was not far from the mark. Finally I nodded "Yes, he and Sullivan were taken when the nest was gassed, Jenner and Toora were taken in a different raid. You'll meet them a bit later."

She nodded, and letting go of my paw she said, "That, and our talk will have to wait, Jonathan. I have a friend I must help. As much as I'd love to stay and find out what's going on, I have got go, and I need Mr. Ages to help him. Do you want to come, or will you wait here?"

I felt my heart hit my feet. I'd expected her to be… well I don't know what I expected, but it wasn't this all-business woman before me; willing to put off our reunion for her own ends.

After a moment, I said faintly "Maybe I'll go check on the children. You did say the old thrasher?"

She nodded and smiled briefly saying, "Just try not to frighten them too much. As far as they know, you died almost a year ago, and be sure Timmy is staying warm."

With that she walked to where Ages was in the middle of a group hug and started speaking to him.

"Not the same shy little thing you left last year, is she Jonny Mouse?" asked Justin softly as he placed a paw on my shoulder.

I shook my head, "I hardly recognize her, and it's not just this dim light" I replied as she and Ages went inside the dark barn with Lora.

Justin sighed "She had to grow up while you were gone my friend. She still loves you, never doubt that, but she'll also never be the same person you knew."

Giving my shoulder a squeeze before dropping his paw, he asked, "You ready to go find your kids?"

I nodded and watched as Sassy dressed in her harness with the med pack tied to it stalked out. Amanda dressed in a dark cloak and padded doublet sat just behind her head. Elizabeth, wrapped in her dark red cloak and looking very ill at ease, sat behind her with her arms around the younger mouse, while Ages, swathed in bandages and still tying off the one on his shoulder, had his free paw on Elizabeth's shoulder and keep his seat. As they disappeared into the darkness, I wondered sadly if there was anything left of my Elizabeth.

XXXX

Elizabeth:

Riding a cat wasn't the strangest thing I'd done or seen over the last year, but it came close. As soon as I got use to it though, the troubles of the day came crashing back in on me. Perhaps it was exhaustion, or perhaps shock at Dragon's attack on us; but I wasn't sure how I felt as the cat and this strange young mouse carried us to Jeremy's tree. I'd started the day yesterday knowing that Jonathan was dead, eaten by Dragon. This morning I had still known that Jonathan was dead, but that he had not died by Dragon's doing, but rather in an attempt to gain some sort of life extension for us. Then when it looked like I as about to die myself, he suddenly returns from the dead!

I shivered, and Mr. Ages squeezed my shoulder where he had his paw to keep his balance and asked, "Are you all right Mrs. Frisby?"

I glanced back to the bandaged mouse I'd known so long and replied softly "I don't know."

Perhaps a bit more harshly than I intended I asked "Did you know he was off back to NIMH rather than dead?"

Ages shook his head saying "Good havens no, not at all! Like you, I thought he was a victim of Dragon's appetite. Never dreamed he'd pull such an audacious stunt as going back to NIMH to get serum for you, though I knew he wanted to. If Nicodemus had had any idea…." he shook his head again and I heard a soft chuckle.

I started to get angry, but before I could speak the young mouse, Amanda, said from where she sat just behind the cats head "That Nicodemus sounds like a real pill from what I've been hearing. I'm glad he isn't, like, here now."

The cat added, "From what we've been told, it sounds like he dictates and expects everyone to follow his lead. I bet that council Jonathan told us about doesn't overrule him very often."

There was a grunt from Ages, but no other reply.

After a long moment of silence I used to calm myself and give her an additional direction, Amanda asked, "So, what happened to your bird friend? How'd he get hurt?"

Another flash of anger passed over me as I growled, "He was stabbed by a rat named May when he was buying time for my family to get away. She'd already ordered me killed and used for dinner once, nearly killed Mr. Ages, and it now it seems she's killed many of my friends!"

"Sounds like a real psycho bitch" the girl said thoughtfully. I heard her voice harden as she asked, "You're sure she's the one that killed all those mice?"

I swallowed hard and had to say, "If she didn't personally murder them, she ordered it. She was in charge of the rats that ran us out of our home."

The cat, Sassy, growled angrily "They killed children, entire families! I helped bury them, and all I could ask myself was how could anyone do that to children!"

I cocked my head and had to smile just a bit thinking that perhaps this cat wasn't anything like Dragon, but perhaps she could be as dangerous if given the right reasons. A cat protector had some interesting possibilities.

XXXX

Sassy slowed down when we were only a short distance from the tree, then crouched in the undergrowth grumbling something softly to Amanda.

I asked softly of the young mouse "What's going on?"

She whispered back "Sassy smells rats and blood. You guys better get down while we go check it out."

Ages and I eased off the cat's back, then Amanda dropped the med pack to Ages, before pulling an inch long blade from her belt that glinted coldly in the moonlight. Crouching down behind the cat's head, she whispered something and they slowly moved off into the brush as silent as shadows while we hid ourselves.

In moments there was the snarling yawl of an angry cat, closely followed by the terrified squealing of rats! Brush rattled from that direction, and a ragged rat with a bloody claw mark across his side and terror in his eyes fled past us!

Jumping up, I dashed forward and saw as soon as I got clear of the underbrush that the clearing at the base of the tree was empty, but there were two shapes on the tree trunk moving up! One was the size of a rat and was almost up to the limb with Jeremy's nest. The other shape was a cat, all but running up the tree!

The rat hit the limb and I heard May snarl as she pointed the pike at Jeremy "Stop where you are Frisby, or I'll kill your bird friend! I knew when we found it you'd try to come save him, but I had no idea you'd side with a cat!"

Amanda called back stridently "My name's not Frisby, and what do I care if you kill a bird. I heard one of the other rats call you May, and a May murdered seventeen mice this morning, so I'm here for you!"

There was a startled "What? Who the hell are you!" from May as she turned her attention and the pike she carried away from Jeremy and to the threat she had thought to bluff.

That was all the opening that Jeremy needed. His dark shape jumped from the nest and glided unevenly down to the ground to make a crash landing.

I ran forward and found him feebly trying to close his wings and get to his feet as above us there was a yawl and a set of angry squeals!

Coming to his side I called "Easy Jeremy! We're here to help you!"

He grunted, finally got his feet under himself, and folded his wings asking with a weak slurred voice "Did you bring that crazy lady with the cat!?"

I nodded, as Ages started looking at Jeremy's wound and said "Strange as it is, it seems they're on our side."

From above came another yawl, a squeal laced with terror, and then a crash as something fell into the brush near us.

Looking over, we saw May stagger out of the undergrowth holding her left shoulder with her right paw. She was covered with cuts and rips, but the worst were three long slashes across the right side of her face starting at a shredded ear and continuing down across her eye to her split nose and lip. Her formerly immaculate uniform was in tatters and stained with blood. She was also so covered with leaves and sticks and dirt that it was hard to identify what she was, much less whom.

Her remaining eye locked on me and she snarled "YOU! I'm going to kill all of you!' as she started forward with just claws and teeth, her left arm dangling uselessly at her side.

She was at least five times my weight and over triple my height, but she was badly wounded, unarmed, and I was mad. Madder than I'd ever been in my life!

Grabbing up a stick I snarled back through my white-hot rage, "Then come on you bitch! You killed my friends, threatened my family, and ordered me up for dinner! Now its time for you to pay!"

Mr. Ages grabbed my free paw saying, "Here, take this!" and pressed something cold and metal into it. It was another blade like the one that Amanda was carrying. He'd been using it for cutting bandages, so it must have come from the medical kit. For me it was almost a sword complete with a finger guard and, being the head of a scalpel, it was extremely sharp!

Seeing this, May slowed and her eye narrowed, while behind us a frantic scrabbling was coming down the tree along with a shower of bark.

May turned slightly to see where the cat was, and I dropped the stick and lunged, swinging the blade wildly with both paws!

She jumped back with a yelp of "Hay!" and found a new long bleeding wound on her chest where my blade had skipped across it!

"Screw this!" she snarled and turning, started to run.

Dashing after her, I grasped the cold steel tightly with both paws, closed my eyes, and stabbed down at her retreating tail with all the pent-up anger and fear I'd felt over the last days. The blade hit something, was nearly wrenched from my grasp, and then passed through and dug in to the dirt! May gave a wail of pain as I felt a splash of wet warmth over my hands and arms! When I opened my eyes, I saw half her tail lying on the ground at my feet, just a paw span below where I held the blade!

Sassy hit the ground a moment later, a long bloody gouge in her cheek. She glanced at us and gave a snarl of rage that would have froze me in my tracks if I weren't so mad; before she and Amanda disappeared along the bloody trail May was leaving.

When I turned, panting with exertion and pent-up emotion, I found both Ages and Jeremy staring at me, and Jeremy said softly "Wow!"

XXXX

Jonathan:

Justin and I traveled through the tall grass in silence for a while, both lost in our thoughts. For me, I was wondering how much Elizabeth had changed, and even more, how much my children would have changed. Would I even recognize them after nearly a year? I had no answers, and from the silence Justin had no more answers to his internal questions than did I.

For Justin I guess the questions would be more of what he would do now that we were back on familiar turf. Soon he would be forced to make some hard decisions of who he would support when we came in contact with the NIMH rats.

XXXX

The thrasher was a bit more covered with vines than I remembered, and likely more rusty as well, but the moonlight softened its time-ravaged appearance.

Nothing moved around the old machine, and there was no sign of my children. Finally I said softly "Justin, would you call to them? I hate to admit it, but they may respond to your voice before they would mine after this long."

Justin nodded, cupped his paws before his mouth, and called over the sound of the crickets "Martin Teresa, are you here? It's Justin and someone else I'll wager you'll be happy; and just as surprised to see!"

A hesitant female voice that sounded much as Elizabeth had when I first met her called back "Justin; is that really you?" and I saw a head poke out from under the cowl covering the motor near the rear of the old machine.

Justin waved and called back "Yes, it's me! I'll be up with you in a moment!"

We worked our way back, then up the side of the corroded machine, using a flat tire and one of the fraying wiring harnesses as a ladder, and found all four of them gathered atop the rusty motor.

Teresa, looking much like a young Elizabeth, dashed up to Justin and wrapped her arms about him crying "Oh Justin, knew they couldn't kill you!" while Martin stared at me and Timothy and Cynthia looked back and forth between us with wide eyes.

Martin took a step forward, almost like he was being dragged against his will and asked softly and unsurely "Father?"

I smiled and said softly "Yes son, it's really me."

There was a glad shout of "Papa!" from Cynthia and Timothy, and they came running up to hug me while Martin looked on with eyes narrowed. Teresa had pressed the back of her paw to her mouth as if to stifle a scream, and was all but hiding behind Justin.

Well, two out of four wasn't bad for a start, but it did hurt.

XXXX

Elizabeth:

While I stood guard and cut bandages as requested, Mr. Ages saw to Jeremy. His verdict was that he was quite lucky. Nothing vital had been hit when he was stabbed and that most of his problem was blood loss. He stitched the wound closed after cleaning it and putting some sort of cream on it, accompanied by many complaints and groans from my battered friend. As he finished the bandaging he announced that Jeremy should be right as rain with a few days rest.

As he was finishing up, there was a call from the brush of "We're coming in" and Amanda and her feline war steed stalked into the clearing below the tree.

As they got close I called "Are you two OK, and did you get May?"

Sassy dropped to her belly panting as Amanda swung down saying "I'd like to get your doctor to look at Sassy's face. She says it's only a scratch, but I worry about her."

The cat replied, "Oh come on, it's nothing, just stings a bit. See, it's even stopped bleeding" she said touching her cheek with a paw.

Mr. Ages grumbled, "I'll be the judge of that as soon as I clean my paws. Never can be too careful about infections you know."

The cat gave a long-suffering sigh as Amanda continued, "As far as that May person is concerned, no; we didn't get her. She slipped down a hole that was too small for Sassy, and I wasn't comfortable going in after her. She's, like, way too big for me to handle on my own in the dark."

I was disappointed, but glad the girl was smart enough not to dash into a possible trap. With a bit of luck there'd be a snake waiting for May somewhere in the dark.

Jeremy asked "So, where do I find you guys when I'm better?" as he looked at the bandages.

Ages glanced at him from where he had been looking at the cat's face and after blowing through his whiskers said gruffly "You're going to have to come with us. If you try to fly, you'll not only split your stitches, you'll likely faint and crash."

Jeremy looked horrified as he asked faintly "You mean I've got to walk somewhere? I can hardly stand!"

"Actually" Ages said as he pulled some fur out of the wound he was cleaning, making the cat wince and hiss, "if this young lady will agree, I think you should ride her. I doubt you'll be able to walk any distance and we need to get back to the barn before all this blood brings something nasty down on us."

The cat chuckled "Now I've got to carry a bird? If that other cat sees me, I'm not goina need to fight him. He's gona just laugh himself to death!"

"At least you won't end up with more war wounds" chucked Amanda and giving her an affectionate pat on the shoulder.

Looking over at Jeremy she added "Sorry about the cold words up on the limb, but I didn't think she was dumb enough to give us an opening to kill her if she went ahead and stabbed you, and it worked. She turned her attention to us, and let us close without killing you."

"Thanks, I think," said Jeremy as he walked slowly over and eyed Sassy before saying "Um, and thank you too."

The cat chuckled, winked, and growled "Up on my back before I change my mind bird."

It took some hard work on all our parts to get Jeremy up on the cat's back, but we finally got him there and strapped down.

As we stood back and looked at our work, Ages chuckled "Looks like something from "The Bremen Town Musicians."

We all stopped and looked at him questioningly.

He looked around at us, sighed, and shaking his head grumbled "No one reads the classics anymore!"

XXXX

By the time we'd covered most of the distance to the barn, Sassy was carrying not only Jeremy, but Ages and I as well. We were all spent, and Ages actually dozed off and on for a good bit of the trip.

For myself, I was too full of questions and anger to sleep. I asked many questions of Sassy and Amanda, and learned much of what Jonathan had been up to over the last few months.

"So, this serum" I asked, "it made you what you are, and Jonathan was able to get some of it?"

Amanda nodded from where she was walking at Sassy's side saying, "Not just some of it, we have all of it there is. I don't know how much is there, but it should be enough for you, your children if they need it, and for Toora as well, if she wants it."

"And it will make me like him, like you?" I asked in wonder.

Ages answered in a sleepy voice "It should extend your life my dear, and will to some extent return your youth. I was very old, almost five, when I got it and while it didn't erase all the signs of my age, it did return my vigor and zeal for life."

I growled as anger filled me "And without a word he runs off and leaves his family to do this! What if I didn't want it? What if I'd died while he was on this mission of his, and our children were left alone!

"I knew he was keeping things from me, but I never guessed how much! Perhaps I didn't know him nearly as well as I thought!" I finished bitterly.

Ages stayed quiet, and I wasn't sure if he was just unwilling to answer my rant or asleep again.

Amanda glanced back my direction a few times, then finally said as if unable to contain herself any longer "Look, it's not, like, my place to get into your business, but I can tell you that you were never far from his thoughts. His every energy was turned to getting back to you with what he said was what he needed to save his… soul mate."

She sighed, saying mostly to herself it seemed "I just wish I could find a mouse that would love me half as much as he does you."

Already angry and hurt, I snarled angrily back at her "What would you know about it!"

She glanced my direction, then snarled back just as angrily "Because I'm going to be stuck in a similar situation to his! I may not have a colony of rats ordering me around and telling me I've got to lie to the people I love, but if I do find someone to love, most likely they will be short lived like you and I'll be forced to watch them wither and die before my eyes! I won't even be able to hope to return to that hell-hole at NIHM for a way to save him as all the serum in the world is waiting for you!"

Stopping, she looked up at me as Sassy continued forward saying "Frankly, if you don't take this chance to stay with your family and friends, then I guess you're not as smart as Jonathan and Justin made you out to be."

Sassy rumbled under me "I'll second everything she said, because I find myself in the same place. If you decide to turn the serum down, there will be no shortage of people that will happily step up to take your place. Frankly the only reason you're at the head of the line at all is because of the respect we hold for your mate, what he did for us, and what he went through to get it for you."

Ages said softly into the electrified silence that followed "Friends, I think you are being too hard on Mrs. Frisby. She has just had several very jarring surprises after a grueling day. Please, just let her blow off some steam. When she's had the chance to get over her shock and…" he said with sadness I'd never heard in his voice before "learn some broader truths, she will make good decisions. I've come to respect both her courage and intellect."

With that we all quieted and the rest of the trip passed in a somewhat prickly silence.

XXXX

We arrived at the barn to the sound of soft voices, and dim flickering light in the back stall. One of the voices I recognized was that of Timothy as he said "….. our house."

Another voice I recognized as Justin chuckled "That was after they got past the shrew. She gave Arthur a nasty bite on the leg that left him still limping when he left for the valley."

There was a round of laughter, and I felt a smile as I remembered the cool night that seemed so long ago when a shrew had stood tall against what she thought were rats come to steal my home. I hoped we'd meet again in the fall, but there are no guarantees in life.

As we rounded the edge of the stall, everyone fell silent and looked our way. They were almost all there, but the big dog that had driven off Dragon was not to be seen. They were gathered about a small fire in a cleared spot in the center of the stall.

A few I recognized, my children, Jonathan, Justin, and the rat next to him, Sullivan I think his name was, but I'd only seen him twice. Timothy and Cynthia were sitting quite close to Jonathan. Cynthia had a big smile on her face and her eyes were almost worshipful, while Timothy had a huge well-pleased grin. Martin and Teresa were sitting close together, but on the other side of the fire from Jonathan with guarded expressions.

Of the others, there were two white rats (one large in both height and girth), two brown rats (one rather battered the other very pregnant), another cat, three dogs, and five mice (one in of all things a blouse and skirt).

"Well well, look what the cat dragged in." Justin laughed, causing a round of chuckles and a few groans while the children jumped up and came to gather around us with glad cries.

"Har har har" Sassy grumbled under us before she dropped to her belly with a sigh near the fire asking "Can someone get this bird off my back? How something this heavy could ever fly is beyond me."

Jeremy looked indignant and squawked "Heavy? I'm at a perfect flight weight! And you, I always thought cats were supposed to be light on their feet. Riding you was like being on the same limb as a nearsighted woodpecker with hiccups!" electing more laughter from those gathered around us and I heard and felt both Jeremy and the cat chuckling.

After a moment while the others gathered around us and stared untying Jeremy, he asked softly of me "So how many more friends you got Mrs. Frisby?"

I smiled and said softly "I guess these are friends of my friends Jeremy" as I turned and patted his good wing.

Getting Jeremy down from Sassy was easy with all the willing hands, then it was time for introductions and I noticed Timothy was standing with his jaw hanging open like a fish out of water as he stared at Amanda, while the young mouse introduced as Merriest kept trying to catch Teresa's eye without success. Martin kept stealing glances at the rather thin mouse in the dress with a crutch at her side that was introduced to me as Lora, and with a sigh I realized it was finally time for "that talk" that all parents dread.

When we got to Jenner I paused and asked "Were you really against moving to Thorn Valley?"

He nodded and, rubbing a bandaged paw over his milky eye, said tiredly "There were a lot of reasons I will not go into now, but I will say I was not happy with many of Nicodemus'…. ideas, and leave it at that for now."

Justin gave a grunt, and when I glanced at him, there was a scowl on his handsome face as he watched Jenner.

With the introductions out of the way, Mr. Ages and I told what had been happening on the farm, then Jonathan stepped forward and spoke for some time about what he and the others had been doing over the last year. He finished by saying "Most of the trip from the time we left Culpepper till this morning has been boring, sleeping through the days and traveling by night. The walk from Charlottesville to the farm was a bit challenging for some of us, but we took it as easy as we dared under the circumstances and of course we made it."

Justin chimed in "But the question is; what do we do now? We're pretty sure Dr. Schulz will be on his way as soon as he can, if not already. Our best guess is that he will go to Hampton where he caught Jenner first, but likely he will come here too. If he can get permission from Mr. Fitzgibbon, you can bet he will try to find any activity on the farm that he can link to his…." he made a face "test subjects."

Leana said softy "It seems to me that our first order of business is to stop the excavations in the bramble, then close up and hide any activity there."

"How do you propose we do that?" asked Mr. Ages. "They are not exactly friendly if you haven't notice."

Leana grinned from her chair "That's simple enough. They are Jenner's people, are they not?"

All eyes turned to Jenner and he turned his scarred face from side to side, then asked, "You expect me to just walk in there and take control of them?" He gave a dark chuckle saying "I had command of many of the normal rats through Toora, but over the NIMH rats I had almost no control at the end. Malcolm and May were the power behind the throne so to speak, and only agreed with me when is suited them."

"How did that happen?" asked Ages. "I can hardly imagine you having given up power easily."

Jenner shook his head sighing, "I didn't. You have to understand the situation I was in. There was always a lot to do trying to build a new colony and I didn't have an Arthur, Brian, or even a Sullivan to fall back on. I delegated responsibility for the day to day running of the colony to Malcolm and concentrated all my waking hours on building.

"It was when I noticed all the pups scampering about the nest that I became alarmed and went to Malcolm and told him that we needed to stem the population growth. He laughed in my face saying that he was building an army and that I should go back to my drawings."

Toora growled at this, and Jenner smiled and patted her arm where his paw lay on it continuing "Toora wanted to go after Malcolm and kick him out of the nest, but May had built a strong, well armed Guard that was loyal only to her. They would most likely have killed Toora and her supporters, and…" he sighed and his head dropped "I didn't understand it at the time, but I just felt that I couldn't let her take that sort of risk. Now I think I understand."

The NIMHs all shared a smile, and I made a mental note to add this to the list of things I intended to ask Jonathan when we had a chance.

Leana cleared her throat saying "Mr. Jenner, things seem to have changed and you may find a more receptive audience after tonight's events, particularly if this May person and her core Guards did not make it back.

Turning her attention to my friend she asked "Mr. Jeremy, how many rats have you seen in the bramble?"

Jeremy's head snapped up "Mr. Jeremy? I like the sound of that!" he said with some of his old enthusiasm.

Leana lifted a brow and Jeremy blinked "Um, right. Rats. Well, um, maybe twelve, or so."

Martin nodded and chimed in "Twelve sounds about right, though I wasn't there that long."

Mr. Ages nodded "I'd say that was about right too. I never saw them all gathered together, but I did see about twelve individuals, but I think they also have several rats that were among those that left for Thorn Valley like Rachel they use for labor in the dig, so…. perhaps you should add three to five to that number. They were kept down in the digs, while my cage was near the entrance, just under the overhang so they could easily display me for bait."

Amanda chimed in "I think you can mark all four of the rats May had with her from the list. Likely they won't stop running till the end of next week the way they were going."

Ages nodded adding "There was also the fox, so say seven to eight of them at most."

Leana nodded "All right, here is what I think we should do."

XXXX

When the meeting was over and people were breaking down into small groups to talk, I went to Jonathan. As I walked up I had to force myself to not smile. Though I was angry with him, I was still happy to see him. Even in this dim light I could see when he saw the expression on my face that his ears dropped, his whiskers drooped, and he looked so much like Martin when he was caught doing wrong it was uncanny.

The kids when they saw "That look" got out of the way quickly, any questions they had bottled up for later.

Stopping before my suddenly resurrected mate and keeping the anger from my voice, I said softly "We need to talk."

Jonathan swallowed hard, nodded once, and replied, "We can go up to the loft."

I nodded, turned, and headed up the ramp made by the cross bracing in the wall.

XXXX

Jonathan:

I knew it was time to take my lumps for what I'd done, but that didn't make it any more pleasant to contemplate.

Even through my apprehension I found myself admiring the outline of Elizabeth's shapely rear ahead of me as we climbed to the loft. She wasn't as slim as she'd been before our children, but she was still quite shapely to my eye.

As we arrived at the empty loft, she turned and there was fury to be seen in her dimly lighted features as she hissed "All right Mr. Frisby, talk! I know some of the whys, but I want it all. No lies. No half-truths. No sweet clover mixed with the bitter grass. I want to hear from your own lips why you didn't tell me you were so different. Why you wouldn't tell me that OUR children could be as different as you, and most of all I want to understand why you left us without a word when we needed you!"

Each word was like a whip cracking across my soul, leaving a bleeding slice in my heart as it hit.

I swallowed hard and found myself looking at my toes. With a shuddering sigh I finally said, "All right Elizabeth, now that the truth can't harm us or our children, I'll tell you everything. In doing so I will break more oaths that at one time meant the world to me; but I'll tell you this, you and our family mean more to me than any other friendship, oath, or anything I can think of" I said looking back up into her dimly seen eye.

She growled, "Last summer, I would have believed that, but now I'm not so sure. See if you can convince me."

I had to wince at that, but finally nodded saying, "Telling the entire story will take longer than just one night, but I'll give you what I can tonight, and I'll tell you the details as I can later. Deal?"

She folded her arms and nodded, just one quick tip of her head and growled, "I know about NIMH, the time at the estate, and the toy tinker. You can go into detail on that later. What I want to know is about us and how you could do what you did."

I nodded "Ok, it all started just after we moved in here with a big fight in the rat's Council over the amount of grain we were taking from the Fitzgibbons harvest. I had been asked to help them find ways to work together. They felt that I wouldn't take sides being a mouse, and I had the respect of the colony. The Council was gridlocked and the people were frightened, some to the point of considering leaving. Justin, my best friend, was all but begging that I help, so what was I to do? I agreed and from that point on I was an unofficial part of the Council.

"It was a hard job as they fought constantly, but they did start to move forward. Confidence was restored and the colony began to prosper. For years I stood between the factions, helping them find common ground, but one day there was a tremendous fight that I honestly thought would end in bloodshed.

"I called for an adjournment and a three-week recess, then walked out and told them I was going to go live with Ages for a bit till I cooled off. I probably could have stayed in the colony, but the factions tended to corner me in the hallways to bend my ear, so I left."

I had to smile a bit as I remembered "Ages wasn't too pleased when I showed up on his doorstep and demanded to be allowed to stay with him for a while. He hadn't forgiven me for getting him involved with a squirrel, and I'll tell you about that later. Anyway, he dropped his objections when I reminded him that I'd supported his move from the nest against both factions and helped him get his home setup, and could just as easily lobby the Council to remove that privilege.

"To be honest, I think he was happy to have the company, but had to put on a show for his pride" I said with a bit of a smile remembering the look on his face.

"It was just as I was thinking of going back, to the nest that I met you. I'd gone down to the stream after that four-day storm to watch the water, and found you there.

"I think you were still in shock at the loss of your family at the time and my… strangeness didn't bother you.

"I remember thinking that you were beautiful the first time I laid eyes on you. You were hunting for food along the stream bank, and I couldn't help myself. I was drawn to you like a magnet.

"I approached you and remembered after a few moments of feeling like a fool just standing there gaping that you had been foraging and told you that I'd seen some mushrooms up the bank. I offered to show you where they were, and to my delight you agreed to come with me.

"We talked for a while, and I found that you were smart, much smarter than the other mice I'd talked to and you were as lonely as I. When we parted that day, I was of half a mind not to ever see you again because I was so attracted to you, but the other half won, and I'm very glad it did!

"That evening I told Ages about you, and he was dismissive. Most of us had had our own experiences with those that were once our kind. Normally we would tire of them or they would become fearful of us, and it would end, but now I wonder if the pressure placed on them by our fellows didn't poison some of those relationships.

"Anyway, Ages expected our relationship to fall apart as the others had, but as you know as the days passed rather than drawing apart, we became closer and closer. Finally I told Ages that I was going to take you as a mate.

"He thought I'd gone mad, till he met you. Then he too agreed that you were more, much more than most other mice, and he relented and wished me well."

Swallowing a lump in my throat that formed just thinking about those days I continued "I was afraid to tell you about NIMH and myself at first. Fearful that you'd reject me, but as the days passed I began to understand that wouldn't have been the case.

"Shortly after we moved into the summerhouse and we were expecting Martin, I started working out my arguments and thinking about how I would tell you. That was when the rats sent a runner to Ages demanding my attendance when the Council reconvened. I was tempted to decline, but instead I went, and wish now I hadn't.

"Jenner and Nicodemus were in a fine mood when I arrived, but rather than let them start bickering, I told them that I'd taken you as a mate and would be bringing you into the colony in the fall if you were willing. I also told them that you were expecting and that really upset them. Up till that point we thought we likely could only have pups within the NIMH group. Our children were the first outside that group and after Council edict the last till Toora, as far as I know.

"They were horrified, and that horror turned them to a common cause of protecting the nest. They talked about locking me up for my own good, but Justin wouldn't allow it, though even he had reservation about my sanity.

"At this point, I played my strongest argument and turned in my resignation and started to leave. They almost did lock me up then, and I think they would have if Justin hadn't pointed out that they needed me to put the sleeping power in Dragon's food if they were to get any work done and that if they locked me up, I'd likely run the first time they sent me to do so, and he was right in that.

"Finally they called me back and we hammered out an agreement. That if I agreed to continue working Dragon for them, they wouldn't interfere in my family life. But they also swore me to secrecy about them and the colony, warning of dire retribution against us if I said anything."

"Just when I was ready to introduce you to my friends and the Rosebush colony, now I was forbidden to do so, or even say anything to you about myself or the rats."

With a sigh at the bitter memory, I continued "I was the first to officially take that NIMH oath, but not the last by far. The Council found it very useful when dealing with outsiders like the owls and actually started keeping a list of who had taken it.

"Once we had all that worked out, they let me go and I came back to you."

Elizabeth shivered and said softly "I didn't know."

After a moment she asked "What would they have done to us if you had said something?"

I shrugged "I don't know for sure, but I do know I was watched. My guess is that I'd have been locked up for some time, likely till you had died if it had been serious enough in their eyes. You and the kids….. I don't know. I guess that would have depended on just what I told you and how much you believed. At a guess anything from just letting you go your own way to imprisonment till you died. As for our kids, their thinking there depended on what they inherited from me, and that thinking changed when I could confirm that three and likely all four would be NIMH dominate. I think Justin would have tried to protect all of you if it had come down to something really harsh, but..." I lifted my hand and let it fall.

I saw her shivering increase and I went to her, trying to take her into my arms, but she would have none of it. She shrugged my advance off, turned away, and I knew better than to pursue her as much as I wanted to. The rejection was like acid poured on my soul after all my dreams and hopes, but what could I do?

After a moment she asked "What do you want Jonathan?"

I blinked and asked "Want? What do you mean?"

She looked up and asked again "What do you want, from me and the children?"

Swallowing hard against the lump in my throat I answered "I just want a chance. I want a chance to be with you and our family where I'm not under constant pressure and in constant fear. I want a chance to be able to be truthful with you and our family. But most of all I want a chance to spend my life with you, not just watch you fade away and leave us with nothing but memories. I want you Elizabeth!"

She turned away again, and I heard her sniffing back unshed tears. I wanted so badly to go to her and comfort her, but honesty made me realize I was the cause of her anguish, not the cure.

Finally, after a long pause I asked hopeful that she would just talk to me, "Do you want to hear more about NIMH or… me?"

After a moment she shook her head, never turning to face me. Just two quick convulsive jerks to the negative before saying "No, I don't think I could take any more just now. I… I've got some thinking to do." With that she walked over to the loft door and put a paw against frame to steady herself as if without the brace she would fall, and looked out into the darkened farmyard.

I stood helpless and hurt for a few more moments wishing she would turn back to me, but she didn't. Finally, with a heavy heart, I went back down to the others and sat, not really hearing the conversation around the fire.

XXXX

Elizabeth:

I was horrified and lightheaded trying to understand what Jonathan told me. I'd thought from what Nicodemus and Mr. Ages had told me that it had been simply Jonathan's fear of telling me about himself that had held him silent, but now I understood that there had been more, much more. I never would have believed it before, but now some of the things that Mr. Ages had said to me made more since. There was also the letter Jonathan had left and those final words in it that had so perplexed me when I first read them. Now they made sense too, and that a sense I didn't want to believe.

I'd thought highly of Justin, and what Jonathan had said brought me doubt about what I had felt, but then again Jonathan still thought highly of him, and he had championed Jonathan's cause hadn't he? Which was the real Justin, the gallant rat that had saved me from the cage in the dead of night and defended his friends, or the one that would have taken away my mate and locked him up without a word to me and my children, and perhaps stood by while I died of old age in a cage? How was I to judge?

And what of Jonathan? I thought I had known him well before he disappeared, and now I'd found that he had been lying to me. Not just little white lies, but huge ones that affected all of our lives. Was he telling the truth to me now, or were his words more lies? How could I tell? Who could I trust?

The moonlit barnyard had no answers for me, but I continued to watch without really seeing as I tried to grapple with a world that was no longer clear-cut between good and bad. Eventually I would go down to sleep with the others, but not yet.

XXXX

I didn't get to stand with my worries for long, though I'd come to a few vague conclusions. A slight sound brought my attention snapping back to the here and now and I was already looking for places to run and hide before I realized that what I'd heard were my children quietly coming up to the loft, faces worried.

I motioned them over to where I stood asking, "Children, what's wrong?"

Martin nodded to the floor growling, "He is! First he disappears without a word, then he's dead, now he's alive and thinks he can just walk back into our lives like the last year didn't mean anything! If you want me to, I'll run him off Mother!"

Teresa chimed in saying "Oh Mother, it must be horrible for you having him just come back like this. It must be like the story about the blind mockingbird!"

Timothy growled angrily, "Well, I'm glad he's back. If Martin tries to run him off, I'll stand with Dad and you'll have a real fight on your paws!"

Cynthia just put her paw in mind and laid her head against my shoulder offering support without words.

I held up my free paw and using the voice of authority called "Children! Enough! No one is running anyone off!"

When they were quiet I continued in a softer voice "I'll tell you that I was stunned and hurt when Jonathan just walked back into our lives after pretending he was dead, but I know more now!

"First, let me tell you that he didn't intend just to disappear without a word." I swallowed hard and said softly "The not knowing was partly my fault. If we'd returned to our winter home here, I would have eventually found a letter from him telling me he was still alive, but that didn't happen because I found the cinderblock. I'll let you read the letter I found only this afternoon if you like."

"Second, I didn't know it, but the rats were watching us. If we hadn't acted as we did when he disappeared, they could have figured out he was alive and gone after your father, and maybe hurt all of us.

"Third, your father was under tremendous pressure we knew nothing about. You all know the oath the rats asked me to take, and Martin you saw how the Great Owl acted toward it, well they forced your father to take it too. He was forbidden to talk about them to us, his own family, and apparently they were willing to back their demands with force. I don't know if that would have changed when you children grew up, but before he left he couldn't talk about them to us at all.

"Finally, what your father was doing was done for us. He brought back the thing that made him and the rats, and even you different from me. I don't think you will need it, but if you do, you can have treatments so you can be like the rats, like him."

Timothy, his and Martins anger of moments ago forgotten asked "Does that mean that you will be like us and Mr. Ages, that you'll stop getting older so fast?"

I was a bit shocked that Timothy had put that together so easily, but I guess I shouldn't have been. Slowly I nodded and answered, "If I am willing to take it, yes."

Cynthia squeezed my paw and said softly "Please mama?"

I smiled down at her and said softly as I gave her paw a gentile return squeeze "I'm thinking about it honey, but I'm afraid."

Teresa put her hand on my shoulder and said, "Don't worry Mom. We'll be here for you no matter what."

I felt myself tearing up again and could say no more.

XXXX

Jonathan:

The morning was a bit overcast, and the cold bit me through my tunic and stung my toes in the damp leaf litter as we watched Jenner and his small party walk up to the dig site in the bramble. At first there was no response to his calls, but finally a rat emerged from the new tunnel they had dug into the back of the large undercut that had once sheltered the original back door, and eyed them nervously.

Jenner's group consisted of Justin, Sullivan, and Shamoo. The rest of us had split into two other groups. The first group was the noncombatants, which were most of the mice including my family, the bird, and much to her objection Toora. She was too far-gone in her pregnancy to allow into a fight.

Elizabeth looked as wilted from lack of sleep as I felt that morning, and avoided me. She had returned in the small hours of the night and it seemed her sleep on the other side of the fire with the children clustered protectively around her had been no sounder than mine.

The second group was what Justin called Da-Muscle consisted of the dogs and cats, including Amanda, and were out of sight in the brush behind me.

I was watching Jenner's group and should any of them signal by covering their eyes with their hands, I was to signal Da-Muscle to swoop in and use shock and fear to quell any trouble.

Slowly more rats came from the hole and debate and bickering among them escalated even further to shouting.

With a suddenness that shocked me, fighting broke out among the seven rats that had issued from the hole, and one lunged at Jenner to be easily batted aside by Shamoo!

I watched intently for the signal, but it wasn't given. Jenner backed out of the range of the combatants with Sullivan, while Justin, and Shamoo waded into the fighting with a will!

Five more rats then came piling out of the hole and into the fight, and in moments it was over.

Two somewhat battered rats stood together to one side with a large group surrounding them while Justin barked orders. Jenner stepped forward again with Sullivan's assistance and addressed the remaining ten rats for some time, then Justin waved me in.

I waved Amanda up, when I'd informed her of what I'd seen and asked her to watch in my place; I headed down.

Justin, bleeding from a bitten ear, came up and clapped me on the shoulder saying, "That's it, we control the nest."

"So, they just gave up?" I asked in surprise.

He nodded "They haven't been real happy here. Our old friend Malcolm has been tightening the screws on everyone, trying to break May's control on the normal rats, so there was no love there.

"Then last night's attack at Jeremy's tree knocked out a good core of Malcolm and May's support when their Guard didn't come back. All it took was for a new leader to come forward and take control, and Jenner was all that was needed."

"Is May here?" I growled as I looked around.

Justin shook his head "None of the tree raiders came back, so we may have seen the last of her."

"I doubt it," I grumbled as I surveyed the dig site close up.

A huge pile of tailings from the dig were scattered around in front of the overhang and trailed out a good three feet. Mixed into the dirt were bits of trash and half eaten food that made me shake my head in disgust. The overhang, or perhaps small den would be more appropriate to call it, was mostly clear of piles of dirt for most of its six foot by three foot length and depth. Thankfully they had put their new parallel tunnel at the far edge and back of the overhang, so there was little danger of collapse from where the humans had damaged it with there digging to find the nest. With a sigh I said, "We need to get this covered up and hidden as quickly as we can."

Jenner apparently overheard and called "Sullivan will be seeing to that. They've opened up the passage to the cave and about half way to the old living quarters. He's going to have them start pulling the dirt back into the cave and then we'll close this up" he said gesturing to the new hole.

Thinking about it, I asked "How long would it take with our help to get into the old quarters?"

Justin shrugged saying "I guess Sullivan could have a look and give us an estimate, why?"

"Well," I said slowly "didn't you tell me that all the furniture, wiring, and all that stuff were still down there?"

Justin nodded asking in return "You think we would have time to get it all cleared out?"

I shook my head "I don't know, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. If we could get in and clear it all out back into the cave in a day or two…"

Sullivan had come up by then and chuckled "Jonathan, we left all that the first time because we knew it would take a week to clear it out with the entire nest working. For us to clear it all out, I'd say a month at a minimum."

I sighed, "Then our best hope is to clear this up and hope that Mr. Fitzgibbon is still angry enough not to let MIMH dig up his new flower garden."

End Chapter 10


	11. The Doctor makes a house call

Chapter 11 _The Doctor makes a house call._

Jonathan:

Malcolm and his lieutenant Sue refused to help us, and we found ourselves with a problem as to what to do with them. Finally we ended up tossing them into the makeshift pen where they had held Ages. It was a tight fit for two rats, but that was just too bad.

Elizabeth's friend Jeremy spent most of the day dozing off and on with Jenner and Toora under the watchful eye of cats and dogs while we worked as quickly as we could to undo what they had done. Strangely, a friendship seemed to be forming between Sassy and the bird as they found they enjoyed picking on each other.

The cats and dogs did what they could in the way of guarding or fetching and carrying, but they couldn't help us much because of their size. They had decided to stay mainly to see what happed if the doctor should find something. If we failed to hide everything and Dr. Schultz's worst fears could be confirmed, they would be in a much more precarious place in whatever they chose for their future.

Because of handicap or wounds, Ages, Lora, and Leana were unable to contribute much directly as we hurriedly toiled to put the dirt back, but they kept us watered and fed from some of the remaining stores abandoned in the cave.

I was gratified to see my children working as hard as any to help, and Elizabeth was seldom far from my side as we labored, though any conversation was frosty at best. At first I had been shocked to see all the gray the morning light had reveled in Elizabeth's fur, but, thankfully, she seemed to still be strong and healthy. As far as her personality, I found when she was interacting with our children or others that the bubbly slightly airheaded girl I'd first known was gone. In her place was a mature thoughtful adult, and I found that I liked this person as well as, if not more than, the quick-witted youth I'd known before I left for NIMH. I just needed to get her to respond to me that way, rather than to turn on the frost when I tried to speak directly to her.

As to our children, they each responded to me in a different way. Timothy was openly happy to see me, and spent as much of our free time chatting as he could. One subject he seemed most willing to talk about when we were alone was Amanda, and for that I was very grateful for more than one reason. Cynthia, always a shy girl, would warm up to me one moment, and then go hide behind one of her siblings or her mother the next. Martin and Teresa were no longer openly hostile as they had been the previous night, but they were far from welcoming. I got impression that those two would gladly jump in snarling if I said or did anything they thought out of line.

When we paused in the cool shade of the overhang for lunch, we were able to persuade Rachel and her friends to speak with us about how they had come to be there. She was a shy girl, much like an older version of Cynthia, and it took some coaxing to get her story.

Once we got her talking, she spoke of the terror and fatigue of the night escape from the old Rosebush Colony. Her story of the flight reminded me strongly of the stories I'd read of humans escaping oncoming armies with their barrows and overloaded packs of precious good while exhausted children trudged at their sides. This exodus was made worse for the rats as they had no draft animals or motorized vehicles to help them, forcing them to pull their own wagons over a land without roads.

She spoke of the fear for Justin and the other members of the rear guard left behind to provide their gallant diversion and the sadness when Justin, Brutus, and Sullivan failed to return with the others. She told how everyone was overjoyed when Brutus finally joined them with the news that NIMH was gone from the farm having never found the cave or the lower works, and how Nicodemus had appointed him to lead the Guard after Justin's supposed demise. How they had been forced to fight off several wild animals including a fox attracted by the large body of rats and their food, becoming a hero in the process.

Finally, through all the hardships of the forced march, the refugees had reached Thorn Valley, and the reality of the situation was far from what the majority of the people had hoped for or expected. There was no running water, no lights, no heat, and very few comforts in the new nest. Also there were the old policies that Nicodemus had refused to relax, like refusing to allow any rats out of the nest except on approved business. He also implemented many new policies that had never been discussed in the Council meetings, such as requiring the use of a new written language he had devised. He now required that all written documents be created in this language and that teaching of written English be punishable as a crime.

"Why would he do that!?" Justin demanded, seeming a bit stunned by the turn of events.

Jenner laughed "That's simple my boy. He fears that some young disillusioned member of the community could escape and use written English to communicate with humans. All the young of this generation will be unable to communicate with humans at all; not being exposed to the written or spoken language, and his grip will be that much stronger."

Rachel nodded saying "He's ordered as soon as there's enough paper that the few books he allowed to be brought from the nest be translated and then the originals destroyed.

"He also sent the Guard to search through all our personal goods and they destroyed or confiscated anything they said was disapproved of by The Council, like books. Any metal tools were confiscated, examined, and any that were not deemed necessary were destroyed. The others were put under lock and key "For safety" they said.

"When the Guard came to my family's goods, they found and confiscated for recycling my engineering tables and locked away my tools" she said shaking her head at the memory. "I'd worked hard to learn engineering so I could work for Arthur, but they took all that away. Instead I was assigned to spend my days spinning thread from fur or any other raw fibers the foragers brought in" she finished in disgust.

"What's Arthur doing?" asked Ages around a bit of corn he was nibbling. "I'd have expected him to be up in arms about his engineers being snatched from under him like that."

Rachel looked down and sighed, "He was at first, and said so to a lot of people. Now they have him mashing up plant fibers to make paper as punishment. They said it was for fermenting dissention in the colony."

"Just for talking? Arthur is a Council member, so talking is part of his job" Justin said with knitted brow as he took a sip of water.

Rachel shook her head replying "A little more than that, but not much. He was trying to gain support for completing his central heating and air system before winter after Nicodemus' new stacked Council rubberstamped his veto of the project, and refused to allow him a public hearing. He held an unapproved meeting of the former engineers anyway and Nicodemus had the Guard dispersed us and arrested him. Now he works in a room under guard and is allowed to speak to no one, not even Ruth or his children.

"Most of us believe it was done to make an example of him for anyone else that would stand in the way of a Council edict."

"I can hardly believe this," grumbled Justin as he picked up a grain of wheat and popped it into his mouth.

Jenner wheezed a chuckled "I won't say I told you so Justin, but I must admit it's difficult."

Justin shook his head saying around a full mouth "There must be good cause for this. I want to go to Thorn Valley and hear it from Nicodemus himself before I pass any judgment."

Rachel looked up and said softly "If you want to wait here, you can talk to Brutus about it in a month or so. We found out that after the midsummer harvest, Nicodemus plans to send a party back here to destroy everything we left behind, and I would bet that he will send Brutus to oversee the project."

Looking over to the other rats we'd freed, she continued softly, "My friends and I felt we had to do something when we heard this plan. So we escaped and came back here intending to get into the caves and hide what we could. We'd hoped to one day overthrow Nicodemus and use what we'd hidden to build the colony in Thorn Valley we'd dreamed of, but when the survivors of our group straggled in here; we found Malcolm already at work.

"At first we thought he would help us, but it didn't take long to find out that he had ideas that we couldn't agree with ether. He wanted to go to war with the humans, starting with the Fitzgibbons and he wanted us to make weapons for him. When we refused, he put us to work digging" she said holding up a dirt-stained paw.

Ages nodded as he refilled the thimble we were passing around with water saying in his gruff manner "I think most of you already know that he wanted me to make poisons for him. Said it was for Dragon, but from other things he was saying it wasn't hard to guess his next targets would be the Fitzgibbons themselves. He told me he then intended to "Rescue" the rats in Thorn Valley and bring them back to the farm when he'd made it 'safe' to help him build the core of a rat army.

"This core would then disperse to mate with, and form training cores around intelligent rats in the major human cities along the eastern seaboard. In about five years he expected to have enough people in place to strike.

Lora asked, "What did he think they could do? Surely he didn't expect to defeat billions of humans with what, a few hundred rats?"

Ages shrugged and sighed, "Who knows what he expected? Personally I think he's mad" he growled, glancing at the silent pair in the cage.

"Actually, I think I can guess his intention" replied Jenner as he turned his scarred face about the group going into public speaker mode, and I was taken back to my days as mediator and found my paw itching for the gavel. Jenner's voice may have been rougher from the fire, but his timing and speech were still that of a politician.

When he was sure he had our attention, he said, "When we were trying to decide how to cover our activities in close proximity to humans, one of the ideas we came up with was to capitalize on the human fears of terrorist attacks. It wouldn't be all that effective in a small town, but in a city it would have worked well. It would be simple to forge a note from one of the terrorist organizations threatening to blow up this, or burn that, and under the cover of lock downs and inspections, we could hide the theft of items we wanted or needed. No human would think that a rat had been the source of the threat, and we could go about our business right under their noses. Who would give a rat a second look while searching for a bomb?"

Warming to his subject he continued "Malcolm was quite taken with the scheme, but he thought we could use it in a broader way to start a war between various factions of the humans." He paused, as if reliving a memory, before continuing in his lecturer form "History teaches us that war is the best of times for our kind. When the humans are more interested in killing each other than our people, we flourish in the chaos they cause, so I ask you; why not? I personally have no problem with a war where they are butchering each other and destroying their civilization as long as it's done in a way not detrimental to us, such as nuclear or biological. As long as it stayed conventional, it would be to our advantage."

Lora seemed horrified and cried, "That's terrible!"

Jenner snorted "More terrible than what they do to us with their poisons and traps, or those tests they put us through? NO! It would be justice!" he cried and fell into a fit of coughing.

When the fit passed, he looked up and the anger and zeal of a moment before vanished as he found us all staring at him in horror.

Ages said into the stretching silence "And that's why Nicodemus was able to sway the people to his side Jenner. He would speak to their better nature, while you would have us be monsters."

Jenner's burned face contorted in anger, but before he could speak Leana's dry chuckle cut through the tension like a knife before she said "It seems to me that you rats need both Jenner with his militaristic expansionist mind as much as you need Nicodemus and his furtive desire to hide and push to the simple.

"Mix the two and add a moral compass such as Justin and Jonathan provided to keep them from destroying themselves; and you could build a thriving community."

Justin looked angry at this, but before he could say anything, Sullivan spoke up saying "I think you're right Leana. Together they made the Rosebush Nest function well. Sure there was a lot of bickering, and they were pulling in different directions most of the time, but by and large we were moving in a direction we all could support."

I laughed saying "I think you have the right of it Sullivan. All that time I was standing between our two leaders, through all their fights, they both had one goal, the betterment of our people. And it seems that standing alone nether one is as successful as when they are fighting and finding compromise."

Leana nodded and added in a voice much less polished than Jenner's but just as compelling "There is one thing that needs to be pointed out. That is that we can never, under any circumstances, take a human life or allow any of our people to become involved in any act that would result in human death, no matter how desperate the situation."

She looked around at us, and I could see Jenner rallying his arguments to challenge her statement, but before he could speak she continued "One day my friends, we will be forced to meet the humans, one people to another, one civilization to another, and if they can link us to the killing of even one human, they will never forgive us. They already see our unaltered relatives as pests and vermin that need to be disposed of if they can find no better use for us as test subjects, pets, or pet food. If they see us as a more deadly threat than our unaltered relatives, they will bend their entire will to our extermination. Therefore we'll need every drop we can wring out of them of benevolence, and guilt for what we have been through. We need it to be so hard for them to spin human public opinion against us that anyone that tries will be tried and found guilty of murder in the court of human public opinion."

Jenner snorted and looked away, but there was a troubled expression on his scarred face as we started back to work.

XXXX

Elizabeth paused as we dumped another load of dirt in the gloom of the tunnel and asked "Did you really stand up to both Nicodemus and Jenner when you were working with the rats?"

I nodded as we shouldered our empty buckets and started back to the opening for another load, saying guiltily "Yea, quite often. It was a thankless and difficult job with few benefits. They're both brilliant, driven, and charismatic individuals…. and in a way, I guess all this is my fault" I said gesturing at the tunnel around us.

I saw her brow furrow as we stepped out of the tunnel and exchanged our empty buckets for another load of dirt. As we headed back down the candle-lit passage, bent under our loads, she asked, "How could you think this could possibly be your fault?"

I sighed as we passed Bell on her way back out for another load, "Because I left them. I knew how badly they needed me and how Justin would eventually side without reservations with Nicodemus, I even knew if I left that the balance of power would eventually shift disastrously one way or the other with over a hundred lives in the balance, but when I met you…. I turned my back on them."

We walked in silence for a few moments, but as we dumped our load of dirt, Elizabeth put a paw on my shoulder and halted me, then turned me to face her and I saw a scowl on her face as she said "Jonathan Frisby, you put blaming yourself for the rat's problems out of your mind right now! None of this was your fault. Nicodemus and Jenner were both adults and should have been able to work together for the good of all. Just because they were willing to act the fools didn't mean you had to become the keeper of their colony. It wasn't an assignment. You simply took that burden on your own shoulders, so there is no way to blame you if you were unwilling to keep doing it."

Before I could speak she continued "Now I do blame you for running off the way you did, but that's a different story. You were assigned the job of father when Martin came into the world, and you should never have left us the way you did. You SHOULD have trusted your family to do what was needed!"

At her angry words, I felt my heart hit my feet and as if I'd aged a year in that moment. All I could do was to look back into those angry blue eyes and say weakly "I'm sorry Elizabeth, but I…." and she cut me off again saying, "I wasn't done yet!"

Her eyes softened and she continued "While I do blame you for not being there for our children, I also have to thank you for why you did it. It was a brave thing you did going back to NIMH for us, and if the children need it, I'm sure they will be happy to have the treatments, but I'm still afraid of what will happen to me if I take it. Will I become, what's the word, arrogant, like Jenner and Nicodemus? Will I become a grumpy recluse like Mr. Ages? How long will I live? All those things and more are flittering around like moths in my mind, and it scares me more than being caught in the open by Dragon!" she finished with her voice cracking and as tears filled her eyes.

Dropping the bucket, I held out my arms, and wonder of wonders, she dropped hers and this time came to be infolded in my embrace and I found that she was trembling. "Woha, it's ok sweetheart!" I said pulling her close like I'd done when she was young and frightened. "You'll be fine" I said softly as I stroked her strong back, while my heart lifted to my throat and threatened to strangle me.

She whispered softly "Jonathan, heavens help me I do still love you, but I'm confused, hurt, and more than a bit frightened. I'd re… resigned myself to dying and leaving our children alone before the next spring and here you've brought me a chance to see my…. our children grow to adults, but will I still be me?" She asked looking up into my eyes pleading for an answer and asking "Will you and the children even like what I may become?"

I kissed her between the eyes and hugged her tight as I answered "I don't know. The best I can tell you is that the treatments make you more of what you already are. In your case, I don't know how you could become sweater."

She gave a snorting laugh and tucked her head into my shoulder and said with a sigh "I think I now know what the word schmooze means."

XXXX

It was mid afternoon and we were all exhausted when Ed came dashing back to the dig site puffing and frightened looking. He'd been hiding in the brush with Artie watching the drive.

"They're here!" he growled as he panted and lay on the cool ground.

I dropped the filled bucket that I'd just picked up and asked, though I already knew the answer "Who Ed?"

"NIMH! I saw him! I saw Dr. Schultz! He was on the passenger side of a white panel van! I left Artie to watch while I brought word!" he said in a voice shaking in fear.

I looked at the dirt we still had to move in dismay. We'd reduced it a lot, but it was still easily visible at a glance.

Bell tossed her bucket down and grabbed up her cloak growling "Well shit, I'm out of here. Doctor Frankenpuss isn't gona get the chance to shoot me!" she snarled as she fastened the clasp.

I looked at Sullivan as the children gathered around us looking fearfully back toward the farm, and he shook his head, despair on his face. There was just no way to hide what we still had to do, but that's when Shasta spoke up from where she was guarding Malcolm and Sue saying "Guys, since we can't hide this, can we make it look like something else?"

Elizabeth was shivering where she was pressed up against me with Cynthia pulled up against her chest but asked, "Could we make it look like… I don't know, maybe a fox den?"

Sullivan nodded thoughtfully saying "You know, that could work! Rambo, Alfred, I want you to kick all the dirt you can to the back of the overhang and roll around and pack this down good and solid. Shasta, you're the smallest so when they are done, I want you to dig around under the overhang and then leave paw prints all through that dirt! Shamoo, rip up the pen and toss it into the mouth of the tunnel. All the rest of you rats, help me pile dirt up to close off the tunnel entrance! Ed, get back to Artie and let him know what we're doing. You mice, there's not really anything you can do here, so help the lame get under cover and take the prisoners with you!"

As we were bustling about trying to clear up, Martin came to Elizabeth; an expression much like what others called my stubborn face on his features, and said "Mother, I'm all but full grown, so I'm going to stay and help."

She looked up from where she was jamming a blanket into a pack and said softly, "I don't think you should. Sullivan likely had a reason to call for us to go."

From where I was adding a third hastily filled pack to the growing pile I said "We need you to help move this gear son, and you'd only be in their way for now."

He scowled at me and looked like he was about to object when I added softly while pointing with my chin to a struggling figure at the other side of the works, "Besides Lora probably could use your help."

He turned slightly too where she was trying to stuff a container into a pack and hold on to her crutch; and having little success with ether, and I saw indecision wipe the scowl away.

Softly I added "You have nothing to prove to Justin or the others. We are mice and there are things we can do that they can't, but the other side of that coin son is that there are things we are not as fit for as well, and they know it. As a mouse, your mind is your strength and your small size and ability to get where others cant your biggest advantage. When it comes to something like dashing around with heavy objects," I said gesturing to the rush of rats "we would only be in the way or maybe even get ourselves buried."

He stood for a moment, then nodded and smiled slightly at me before turning and walking over to where Lora was still struggling. Taking the flaps of the pack, he held it open for her and received a grateful smile from Lora as a reward.

"Nicely done" chuckled Elizabeth softly as she picked up another blanket and started folding.

I laughed and replied "If I keep watching you long enough, I'll figure out this parenting thing, likely about the time Cynthia has her own pups."

Elizabeth gave a chuckle and lightly touched my paw before going back to work, lifting my spirits greatly.

As I started closing another pack, I saw Sullivan approach Toora. Her perpetual scowl deepened as he said "I hate to ask it of you girl, but I need you to help Shamoo and the other bigger rats pack dirt in the tunnel, that is if Ages doesn't think it will send you into labor."

Toora growled, "I stay with Jenner!" taking a step closer to the burned rat.

Ages, hearing his name, stopped packing and came up to where Jenner was sitting and placed a paw on his shoulder saying "I'll watch out for him for now girl. Go help the others, but for havens sake, don't do much bending!"

Jenner nodded where he sat looking more than a bit lost and miserable saying "Please Toora, I can't help and they need your strength more than I do just now."

She looked at him for a long moment with a pained expression, then started to turn away. But before she could fully turn, Jenner reached out to tentatively touch her arm with a bandaged mitt saying softly "Please be careful."

Turning back, she looked at him, and I saw her perpetual scowl soften for the first time since I'd laid eyes on her. She was actually rather nice looking when she didn't look like she wanted to bite a plug out of you. With a fragile little smile on her face, she reached out and lightly batted Jenner on the shoulder, then, scowl back in place, she waddled to where the others were engaged in frantic activity around the hole.

At my side I felt Elizabeth, a wistful expression on her face, sigh, and had to chuckle. Now that was my Elizabeth!

Feeling my heart lifted again, even in the middle of all this, I picked up a load of packs and called "Everyone else, let's get deeper under cover so he won't see us, and mind your tracks as best you can!"

With that, we literally headed for the hills, dragging Malcolm and Sue with us.

XXXX

From a knoll some eighty feet from the bramble we watched and waited, sheltered in the heavy undergrowth. At my sides Elizabeth and Cynthia lay watching intently. The others were strung out here and there on the hill's crest and I noted that Amanda, Sassy, Timothy, Jeremy, Lora, and Martin were in one cluster talking softly, while Teresa and Merriest were lying together chatting quietly a short distance away.

When the workers were done, the dogs brought them to join us with Justin and the others clinging to their backs like dirt-covered barnacles.

When everyone was under cover, Sullivan said tiredly as he shook dirt from his ears "We did what we could, and hopefully it'll be enough. The biggest problem is we could only close off the back of the tunnel for a few inches. If the doctor pokes hard enough with a stick or something in the wrong place, it'll cave in like a house of cards."

Justin flopped on his back next to us looking like a freshly tossed dirt clod. After a moment he sighed "Part of me hopes he'll come back here for a look just to justify all the hard work, while the rest of me hopes he'll just get back in his damn van and go away!"

It was about half an hour later that I heard Amanda call "Ed's coming back." When I looked her way, I could see her looking off to the right.

Sassy asked her friend, "You want to go with me to bring him in?"

Amanda grinned and patted her cheek before climbing to her feet and saying, "Like duh. Let's go my gallant steed!"

As she was getting ready to swing up on to the cat's back, Timothy asked hopefully "Can I go with you?"

I saw Elizabeth's eyes widen; and as she started to stand I took her paw and squeezed it saying softly "Trust Amanda."

She gave me a hard look, before giving a curt nod.

Amanda looked at Tim, but before she could speak, Sassy said, "Maybe next time kiddo. For now you don't know how to ride and if I need to run or climb a tree, I don't want to worry about you falling off."

Timothy's whiskers bristled in indignation, but Amanda leaned forward and gave him a lick on the cheek saying "She right. When we have time, we'll show you the ropes, then, if she agrees, we can ride together. Deal?"

Tim looked like someone had just hit him hard between the eyes before managing to nod once.

Amanda grinned, touched him lightly on the cheek, then vaulted to Sassy's back. Quickly checking her harness and blade, the two trotted off to where Ed was now sniffing around our former hiding place at the dig.

As Timothy sank bonelessly into the leaf litter next to him with a sigh, I heard Martin ask his brother "What's up with you?" On his other side, Lora covered her mouth in a soundless chuckle, while Jeremy watched them trot away in envy of the freedom he was denied at the moment.

Elizabeth was grinning when I turned to her and she said softly "I'm glad I got to see that, and in the middle of all this of all things!"

"There will be more, and thanks for trusting me" I replied softly while behind her I saw Ter and Pendra indulge in a short embrace. From our other side I heard Cynthia give a tragic sigh as Elizabeth said, "That's twice now, and you use to be no good with the kids. How are you doing that?"

I smiled and replied, "I know a bit more about her than you do, but really the most important thing I figured out while I was on my own is to I ask myself 'what would Elizabeth do with what I know?' When I do, I tend to come up with the right answer." With a rueful smile I added "I just wish I'd been using that argument with myself when the rats were giving me hell."

XXXX

Sassy and Amanda kept to cover for a good bit of the way, then showed themselves and brought Ed into our new hiding place.

He flopped on his side with a sigh saying, "Artie was able to get up on the tractor shed and hear them talking while looking at the rose garden. The farmer's not going to let Schultz dig up his new garden. Schultz even offered to buy him replacement plants and pay him for his trouble, but that Fitzgibbon fellow wouldn't have any of it.

"Unfortunately he did finally agree to let Schultz look around the rest of the farm for two hundred dollars. He said it was to cover the cost of the damage his people did last time to exterminate just two rats that didn't even have rabies."

Rolling back up to his chest to get a better look at us, he continued "Schultz may have agreed not to dig anything up when he was talking to the farmer, but when they came back to the van I heard him tell Albert, that if he sees something promising enough that he'd have the government seize the whole damn farm from "that hick" and he'd have backhoes in here in a heartbeat."

Turning to Justin, I said, "Looks like you're going to get your wish. Let's just hope the doctor doesn't get his."

XXXX

Less than an hour later a thin slightly stoop-shouldered middle-aged human came tramping up to the bramble, and I recognized Albert's voice as he called over the razzing of the cicadas "Over here doctor! I finally found it!"

A quarrelsome voice that sent a shiver up my spine replied "It had better be. These damn briers are ruining my pants!"

The doctor closely followed by a smaller human carrying an air rifle, I recognized as a slightly taller and older than I remembered Billy, came up to look at what Albert had found.

Billy's strident voice called "Cool! Looks like a fox or maybe a coyote den in there from all them paw prints!"

Using his gun to push the re-grown briers of the bramble out of the way, he forced a path to the backdoor and bent down to look at the dirt in front of the overhang while the two adults more carefully followed the boy in.

Schultz asked, "You're sure this is where the back door was?"

Albert took off his baseball cap and scratched his head saying, "Yea, it's overgrown again and the farmer covered up the ditch I dug back to the nest, but this is where it was doc. You can see where we collapsed part of this ridge when we dug into the tunnel and all that over there is fresh growth. Maybe a fox moved in after the rats left."

The doctor poked around a bit while Billy got down on his hands and knees looking under the overhang.

Albert asked "See anything in there kid?"

Billy answered, "Na, just more tracks and where it's been digging. Looks like this ain't really a den. It only goes back a couple feet, and with all the noise I made getting in here any fox that weren't sick would've run for it."

He stuck his gun under the overhang and the air pressure on that little hill dropped dramatically as we all sucked in a breath.

"Albert, come here" called Dr. Schultz from the edge of the tailings.

Albert struggled over, and Billy bounced to his feet and followed the older man. As he did, we all sighed in relief as it appeared that he hadn't breached the tunnel.

The doctor said something that was carried off by the wind and Billy bent down to inspect the dirt at their feet saying in his loud strident voice "Yea, them's rat tracks OK, and not very old nether."

Albert asked "Older than the other tracks?"

The boy cast about a bit then said "Yep, older. This here track covers a rat track, but it looks kinda wide for a fox. Could be dog, and we got some pack dogs around here" he said looking around.

Albert sighed saying "Fox, dog, or coyote, I bet it moved in and has been catching any rats dumb enough to try to get back into the nest by this back door."

Schultz glanced up over his glasses and said grudgingly "Could be, but one thing's sure, they aren't using this back door any more. Let's look about for another entrance."

We all sighed with relief as the three struggled back out of the briers and walked off looking for other signs of rats.

XXXX

As darkness fell, the doctor and Albert left the farm saying they would be back.

Billy came back after they were gone to watch the bramble for a while on his own. He sat quietly till he was called to dinner by the big bell on the back porch of the farmhouse.

As he walked away into the gathering gloom, we gathered to discuss what we should do and make a quiet meal.

Jenner said softly over the sound of crickets "Now that it seems the crisis has passed we, Leana and I, were talking while waiting for Billy to leave and we came up with a plan." He nodded to the mouse and she said from where she sat leaning against a rhododendron stem in the gathering shadows "We think we should reinforce the wall you built covering the tunnel then spend the balance of the night resting. Tomorrow we watch the humans again. If they don't find anything, we could then push on to Thorn Valley later in the day, or the day after."

Turning, Jenner squinted at the five normal rats that were clustered together at one side of the camp and looking very out of place in their rags saying, "You're free to go where you wish when you wish as long as it's not back to May. We have no right to ask you to put your lives on the line for what we are about to do, but you would be welcome to come with us. If you wish to come, we will do what we can to include you as equals rather than servants."

They spoke together for a time casting fearful glances at us, then as one they got up, stripped the remnant of their clothing off, and bounded away into the gloom without so much as a backward look.

Jenner sighed "So much for inclusion."

Looking at Alfred and Albert, Leana said "What you're groups do is up to you as well, but we could really use your help in what's to come."

Alfred and Albert looked at each other, then Alfred took his small pack aside to talk while Albert said softly "I already talked this over with Sassy yesterday, and we'll go with you if you wish, but there will be problems for us soon."

Looking ill at ease, he said softly "If we can carry it all, our food will only last about another week on short rations, and neither of us knows how to hunt. Knowing this, the question is not so much would we like to come with you, but rather will you feel safe with us?"

We all looked at each other, but it was Sullivan that spoke up saying "We have the ability to fish in Thorn Valley, so I'm sure we can get you something to eat when we get there. It should be enough to keep you comfortable till you can sharpen your hunting skills and I for one will help keep you fed along the way if you will help us."

Amanda added, seeming a bit flustered at the idea that her friend would leave, "I've watched enough nature shows to find you guy's crayfish, salamanders, lizards, frogs, all that stuff. I'll show you what I've learned from the humans, and, well, like, I trust you with my life and stuff too, so yea."

To my surprise Elizabeth stepped forward adding in a shy voice as she glanced at the crow where he sat silently watching "I've always feared cats, and Dragon has tried to catch me more than once, but I trust Sassy too. She helped save my friend, so I owe her a life. I'll help her any way I can."

Albert looked shocked, and Sassy turned away with her ears going scarlet in embarrassment.

Leana looked around for any other members of the group that would want to speak up, and after a moment of silence said "I guess a vote is just a formality, so welcome aboard you two."

The cats seemed both pleased and a bit shocked at the turn of events, and I still had a few apprehensions, but not nearly as many as when we left NIMH. Perhaps we'd need a new slogan in the future. "_We all help each other against the cat"_ had suddenly become a bit dated.

Jenner then turned to Bell and Shamoo where they were talking and asked "What of you two? Will you continue with us, or go your own way?"

The two white rats almost glowed in the starlight and it was easy to see when Shamoo nodded to Bell and she said softly "We'll go with you. What other choice do we have?"

Alfred said as he trotted up "You could come with us?"

Leana asked, "Then you are going your own way?"

Alfred nodded and as the other dogs joined him he said, "We have little food left and its time we started hunting as a pack and that will be easier near civilization. Ed remembers how to track from before the catcher got him, so we'll become his students."

Bell and Shamoo looked at each other and spoke quietly for a moment, then Bell said "Thank you for the invitation Alfred, but we'll stay with the others. We'd just be a burden to you, and maybe with the others we can actually do something to help."

Alfred nodded at the two, then turned and stepped aside for Ed.

Stepping forward Ed said, "You guys should do Ok. The cats can carry those of you that can't walk from here, and we really do need to get started with our future before hunger makes it harder."

Shasta, tears running from her eyes sniffed and said "We're gona miss you guys. Best of luck to you all!"

Jenner spoke up at this point saying, "People, people before you get all maudlin, we have one more issue to work out."

When he had our attention, he turned and pointed a bandaged paw at the two rats sitting quietly with their feet and paws bound "What do we do with them?"

Ages stepped forward saying "Whatever we do, we can't turn them loose. They'll cause more mischief than we could deal with, and they know where Thorn Valley is."

Jenner added "And we have no way to transport them with the dogs going their own way. We'll need to make…. other arrangements."

The two rats in question started looking decidedly uneasy and Malcolm said "We can walk, and we give our word not to try to run."

Justin jumped up angrily saying, "I hope you were not suggesting what I think you were Jenner!"

The children's eyes got big as Jenner shot back "They will not keep their words and will betray us at the first opportunity! Malcolm would even go to Dr. Schultz to get his revenge on us for what we've done to him. I know how he thinks!"

Leana snarled from where she sat "That's enough!" Glaring about she said, "Whatever we do, we do it not in anger but with our eyes open and for good reason!"

She continued in a less strident voice after a moment "I will thank you both to keep your council theatrics to your selves for now. We are civilized beings, not a snarling mob. We will decide what to do by rational thought, not emotional knee-jerk." Looking around at us, she continued "We all have a stake in what happens to our former enemies, so I say all of us should have a voice in this, bird, cat, dog or rodent, not just those with the most strident voices!"

In a reasonable tone she said "I think we should hold a trial where a simple majority will decide the fates of these two, and I volunteer to moderate. Any objections?" she asked while looking around at the gathered assembly.

Jenner grumbled, but subsided and Justin sat back down looking at her questioningly.

Satisfied, she said while ticking off on her callused fingers "As I see it, we have three options for dealing with our prisoners.

"First, we could set them free, but as has been pointed out they would likely get right back into making a nuisance of themselves, and possibly getting all of us including those in Thorn Valley into deadly trouble again.

"Second, we keep them as prisoners. This will require guards, and could possibly endanger us should any of their followers that got away, like that May person, decide to try to free them.

"Finally, we could execute them. This would cause us the least problems, but one or more of us would be forced to kill them, and some of us are unfit to aid in that.

"I now open the floor to civil debate. Signify your desire to testify by raising your paw."

I felt my blood run cold as the two on trial started trembling. Tears were running down Sue's face while Malcolm managed "You, you can't do this! We are not animals you can't slaughter us just because we COULD be a problem. We're people for heaven's sake!"

Ages raised his paw and at a nod from Leana grumbled, "Malcolm, you should have thought of that before YOU started killing people."

"I, I've killed no one!" stuttered Malcolm, his voice rising in his panic.

Ages cocked his head saying with a hard look "It was by your order that May nearly killed me, and I heard, with my own ears, when you ordered her to kill any mice she caught that were not the Frisbys. Remember what you said Malcolm? I do because it was burned into my soul for all time 'Just kill them. That way this stupid old mouse will know we are not playing.' You put, or tried to put the blood of those dead mice on my paws Malcolm!" he snarled angrily.

Choking down his anger he continued, "May is a sociopath that enjoys inflicting pain and killing, but you are no less guilty for ordering the deed" he finished in a hard voice.

Malcolm started wriggling back away from us in panic, as, with tears dripping from her whiskers, Sue cried "Please. Please don't kill me! I was only with him for the prestige. I, I gave no orders, have killed no one! I just want to live!" she finished looking around at us in desperation.

After being acknowledged, Rachel said in her soft voice "Sue can be cruel, but she didn't take a paw in anything more than verbal abuse as far as I know."

Malcolm cried "She's in it up to her ears! Don't let her fool you!"

Leana nodded. "Anyone here willing to speak up for Malcolm or against Sue?" she asked paying no heed to Malcolm's outburst. There was only silence in reply.

Finally Leana nodded again saying, "Very well, I call for a show of paws. Who thinks Sue should be tried separately from Malcolm, as it seems he ordered murder, and she is only a misguided accessory or perhaps even a bystander?

Paws came up with only Jenner, Toora, and Jeremy not joining in.

Leana nodded saying, "Motion carried."

With a sigh she said "Now for your trial by your peers Sue."

Looking around she asked, "Is there anyone that would bring forth evidence one way or another about Sue beyond what we know?"

When no one responded she called "Show of paws for letting Sue go."

Several paws went up, but not a majority. I must say that my family and I didn't raise our paws to this.

After counting, Leana asked "Show of paws for keeping her a prisoner."

A majority of paws came up this time, and after a count she said "By my count she will remain a prisoner as long as she doesn't actively try to betray or hamper us. Anyone opposed to this finding, or a rehearing of her case in two weeks?" she asked as Sue slumped in relief.

There was no opposition.

Nodding she said "Now for the hard case. Ages has testified against Malcolm, and most of us ended up burying the 17 bodies that resulted from that order. No voice has been raised in his defense till now. Is there anyone here that would speak on his behalf besides the defendant?"

Malcolm started babbling, but no one said any other word.

Nodding she spoke over him saying "I now I call for a show of paws for letting Malcolm go."

Not a single paw came up.

Leana quirked an eyebrow and grunted before calling "Show of paws for keeping Malcolm a prisoner?"

I lifted my paw, as did Justin and Leana.

Looking around Leana nodded and finally asked "Show of paws for those that think we should execute Malcolm?"

Slowly paws started up. Jenner and Toora were first, but they were followed by Ages and then slowly my family, and finally everyone else but Justin, Leana, and myself.

Leana looked a bit sick as she said slowly "Malcolm. You have been judged by a majority of your peers as being too dangerous to let go or keep as a prisoner, and of having ordered multiple murders. This leaves us with only one alternative."

Malcolm's eyes were rolling by this time and he was crying and yelling "NO! NOOOOOO! YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME!"

Turning to Jenner he cried "I supported you when the others turned their backs! I helped you get away from Nicodemus! Doesn't that deserve something?!"

Jenner sighed "No, you burned all those bridges with your subsequent actions."

Leana swallowed hard and said in a halting voice "I've never had to do this before. Should we draw lots or something?" she asked as she looked around at the group.

Justin, rocketed to his feet, snarling "Honestly! How can you do this!? Are we not civilized enough to be above this? We've never killed one of our own before and I for one don't want to start now!"

Elizabeth stood with fire in her eyes and snarled back at him "How could you say that Justin! Do you think my friends were not people just because they didn't come from NIMH? He ordered my friends murdered. He ordered my children's friends killed, and that May nearly killed Mr. Ages and tried to kill me twice by his orders! Do you need to find him with blood dripping from his jaws over someone like Izzy before you would act?"

Justin just stood there with his mouth gaping while Cynthia started sniffling, then he turned away in embarrassment. I must say I was shocked and the children stunned by this display. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised knowing how protective Elizabeth could be of family and friends, but seeing her standing there facing off against a rat five times her size and backing him down was still awe inspiring!

Justin finally gathered his wits and turning back looking contrite said softy, "I'm sorry Elizabeth. I didn't mean it that way, but I ask you, could you kill him as he sits there bound and helpless? I know I couldn't. For heaven's sake, I was there when he was born! To me he's still the little boy I remember running up and down the hallways playing with his friends!"

Elizabeth looked over at the pathetic crying bundle, and the fire went out of her, but before she could speak, Toora stood and growled "Soft soft people. He tried to have my Jenner killed, then left us to die, so I have no problem ending him!"

With that she grabbed Malcolm by a foot and dragged him off into the darkness, and no one tried to stop her.

We heard his crying pleas and threats for a few minutes, gradually growing fainter along with the sounds of his being dragged. A few moments later these sounds were cutoff by a scream that echoed off the hill, then ended abruptly.

We were all silent, too stunned to move or say anything for several moments, save Cynthia who was crying softly into Elizabeth's arm.

When Toora returned, wiping blood from her mouth and saying casually "No problems, all done", Lora quietly fainted.

End Chapter 11


	12. Into the wood

Part 4. The Thorn Forest Chapter 12 _Into the wood._

Jonathan:

It was a subdued parting the next morning. Amanda, her brother, and Cynthia had nightmares that left them rung out, and most of us had gotten little sleep. Few of us had been unaffected by Malcolm's execution, and everyone except Jenner gave Toora a lot of space, even the departing dogs.

As there would be no one with hands to help them, the dogs would be leaving without cloak or harness, so they gorged on as much of their remaining food as they could. What they couldn't eat they gave to the cats before burying their gear and some of the things we would be unable to carry with us like the flashlight, Leana's chair, and the cell phone.

The parting was tearful as we all knew that we'd likely never see them again, and probably they would never seek us out. Shasta obliged us by leaving some fresh tracks in the bramble after we added several more inches of dirt reinforced with sticks to the back of the tunnel, but finally they left in a batch of wagging tails. We heard them all give voice as a pack one last time in the distance, then they were truly gone.

Billy came back to the bramble twice that morning, but we didn't see Dr. Schultz and guessed that he was likely off to Hamilton for a while, or perhaps a court appearance considering he'd shot a person. I'd like to know how that all played out, but I guess it would just remain one of those mysteries for now.

Mr. Ages provided a small delay to our departure that afternoon. He examined Jenner again, and pronounced his skin almost healed, and his vision as good as it was likely to get. Unfortunately that left him almost blind in one eye, and with only partial vision out of the other. His fur would be patchy on his face and shoulders for the rest of his life, and his paws would always be scarred and tender.

On the other end of the scale he pronounced Jeremy well enough to walk, and Toora's pregnancy proceeding well, but both should take things very easy for the next few days.

Finished with his examinations, he wiped his hands, nodded to me saying gruffly "Be careful" before turning and starting back toward the farm.

Surprised, I called "Ages, where are you going?"

He grumbled over his shoulder "I have no desire to go to Thorn Valley, and my home is a wreck! I need to get back and clean it up before all my papers end up as nesting material!"

Justin, his unquenchable good spirits returned after the events of the previous day, chuckled and asked "You sure you want to go back there alone old man? You remember we never were able to account for May. She could still be out there, and could pay you a visit. For all we know, she could even be hold up in your house while she heals. Where better to find medical supplies?"

Ages stopped in his tracks, and said with a shiver as he turned "When you put it that way, I just may be able to see my way clear to go with you. Besides, someone could get hurt on this mad venture of yours" he finished somewhat shamefaced.

Leana gave him a small smile and added "We could use your herb skills as well Doctor. Most of us don't know what's safe to nibble on out here."

Gathering his wounded pride about him again, Ages sighed tragically "If I must" electing chuckles from us all.

This left me with a problem I'd given my word to Leana that I'd see her to Thorn Valley, but I didn't want to take my family into danger by bringing them with us. But by the same thinking, I couldn't leave them behind as the threat that May posed was a real one. I also found a core of selfishness in me that didn't want to let them go after being away for so long, and I had to fight against that as I tried to figure out what to do.

It was finally the children that decided things as they often do. They argued that we were honor bound to help the rats as they had put themselves at risk to move the winter house, but I think it was the several budding relationships more than helping that was on the minds of our young ones.

Amanda, Sassy, and Timothy were becoming inseparable, and I wondered what would happen if or when Amanda started spending more time with Timothy. Would Sassy be happy for her friend, or feel left out? And there was still the cat's food issue to be sorted. And odd man out Jeremy would soon be flying again. What would he do, stay with his new friends, or head for home?

Merriest was doing his best to try to catch Teresa eye, but she seemed to be oblivious to his overtures when they were together. However, I overheard the kids talking when we were trying to decide to go or stay, and some of the things said made me think his feelings were not unreciprocated. She just seemed to find his brashness a bit abrasive.

Martin was obviously taken with Lora, but she almost seemed to be frightened by the attention and, much to his frustration, was drawing closer to Justin.

Only Cynthia of our family seem to have avoided entanglement with someone, but she wanted to see Thorn Valley too. The one thing that worried me about this was that we were fresh out of mice for her to become entangled with.

Around mid afternoon we had everything sorted out and left for Thorn Valley. We were all heavily burdened, with Artie and Sassy loaded with the cooler, batteries, and solar panel. The rest of us were loaded with food and the other gear. Justin carried Lora on his shoulders like a small child while Leana perched on Shamoo's backpack like some sort of hood ornament.

We traveled at an easy pace that warm afternoon, pausing when anyone was tired or found something interesting to inspect or eat, and the trip took on what the humans call a 'holiday outing' feel. Even the crow seemed a bit more upbeat though he longed to fly rather than toil along the ground with the rest of us. The only one that was not enjoying the quiet easy pace of our travel was Sue. She sullenly tramped along before Toora, looking like royalty being herded along to the gallows by a peasant. A rather plump peasant at that. Ages said she likely had a matter of days before her labor would start, and from her size, she likely was cooking twins at a minimum.

We stopped that evening in a clearing near a stream and camped. Being so far back into the woods, we decided a small fire would likely go unnoticed by any humans and would help keep the wild animals away.

Ages inspected the crow's wound after our march and said that he was healing nicely and wanted him to start stretching exercises the next day.

Amanda and Timothy managed, with Artie and Sassy's help, to catch a few minnows and three crayfish that we cooked on the fire, and the cats found them quite tasty. The rest of us had grain and tea salvaged from the storage cave to tide us over for now.

As we sat around the fire that evening after our meal, Justin showed us how to make spears and harden the tips we'd nibbled needle sharp in the flames. For us mice the rat sized spears were more like pikes, but had we made spears appropriate for our size, they would be nearly worthless. A spear that size wouldn't have enough mass to penetrate if thrown, and would be too fragile to fight with.

To travel unarmed would have been madness as the danger of attack would only grow as we moved deeper into the forest and the fear of the farm vanished. Our best hope would be that if we were attacked, the attacker would be no larger than a snake or hawk. Anything bigger could be almost impossible to fight off.

As we sat working, I asked Elizabeth softly "How did you end up with a bird friend? Justin told me that he even took you to see the Great Owl."

She laughed as she looked fondly to where Jeremy was telling a story about how one of his relatives had outwitted a fox to Sassy, Timothy, and Amanda saying "I found him on my way back from seeing Mr. Ages this spring. He was tangled up in some string he'd tried to pickup and I freed him just as Dragon was pouncing. I got him free, and he carried me away to safety so I guess we saved each other that day. He's been a dear friend every since."

She grinned and continued "When I went to the Great Owl, he mentioned something about a mouse saving a bird being, how did he put it, "unlikely, but not unprecedented".

"It wasn't till later when I went back to him about Mr. Ages that I found out the truth. That you had done something similar for an owl named Emtah. She told me what she had done for you in return."

Turning fully to me she continued "She also told me about the letter."

I felt my ears heat and dropping my head I said softly "I'm sorry it took so long to get to you. I just wish I'd dared to tell you and the children."

"Me too," she said with a sigh "but I understand now, I think."

Nodding over to Justin where he, Martin, and Lora sat working and talking softly a short distance from the fire I said, "He most of all had to believe I was dead. If you or the children had done one thing out of character, he would have had the Guard out beating the brush for me."

Looking across as well; she said quietly "He seems so nice, has been nice to me, even risking a trip into the farm house to save me that its hard to believe there is any harm in him. What would he have done if he had managed to catch you?"

I smiled tiredly "Justin wouldn't have done a thing other than drag me back to answer to the Council and scold me roundly for endangering the colony. It was Nicodemus and Jenner that would have done something, and though what they could do may have troubled him, he's a good soldier and would have done it."

I sighed, "Nicodemus had mentioned once or twice when he discovered that the children were growing slowly and exhibiting the advanced intelligence of NIMH, that they should be taken and brought in, but the idea didn't get any traction. My hero status, friendship with Justin and Arthur, and Jenner's opposition was still a bit much for even him to overcome. However that could have changed if he were able to convince the Council that we'd become a hazard or in danger, and prove it by catching me in the act of disobeying them.

"My best guess at their most likely actions if they had known what I did is he would have ordered the children captured and forced into the colony while I would have been imprisoned. Likely they would have just left you alone to wonder what had happened to us, but I don't know for sure."

Ages spoke up from where he was sitting to our right with Leana saying softly "I can tell you that bringing in just the children was brought up again the day Elizabeth came to the rats for help, and with Taylor replacing Jenner on the Council, it was a close vote. Nicodemus argued that it would have been for their own good and their right if they had the NIMH genes, but couldn't sway Arthur or Justin who believed that the children were better off with their mother. I think Mora was ready to side with Nicodemus that day, but what stopped her was Justin. He warned Nicodemus if he tried to order him to use the Guard to bring in the children, he would call for a no confidence vote. After finally meeting Elizabeth he had been convinced you my boy had been right. That she was sufficiency intelligent to care for the children and that the children belonged with her. He said that he owed it to you to let them grow up knowing the love of at least their mother. He also called it a mistake to not tell them of their heritage and bring them all into the colony when you asked, a mistake that had lost them your valuable friendship. He told Nicodemus that the only way he would consider voting for anything that changed their status was if Elizabeth was offered full membership and allowed to decide for her family, and Nicodemus would not allow that.

"I also testified to the Council that Timothy's health would be at risk if they were to do something so traumatizing to him as separating him from his mother.

"It was decided after my testimony that they would wait till he was better and try to persuade them to join the colony without their mother. That was why Elizabeth was told about NIMH and about your death, though I wasn't allowed to speak too freely when it came to you. Nicodemus hoped she would tell the children about their heritage and their curiosity would bring them in on their own, but I think by the end of summer he would have brought them in by force if needed. He definitely would not have left them, or me for that matter, on the farm when they left for Thorn Valley under the original Plan. Nicodemus reasoning to the rest of the Council was that Elizabeth would be too old by then to care for them properly and that it would be cruel to leave them behind to fend for themselves, and not even Justin could argue against that.

"I'm sorry to say it, but I have a feeling what he was planning, though I have no proof, was that if Elizabeth were still alive in the fall that she and the children would be brought in, and she would have been confined to quarters in Thorn Valley till she died."

The older mouse smiled a bit and continued "But all that planning went out the window of course when Elizabeth saved the day by giving warning of NIMH coming. In the rush, the children were forgotten for the moment, but never doubt that Nicodemus would eventually try to bring them in again. Likely Brutus has orders to look in on them when he arrives to open the nest and destroy the tools."

Elizabeth seemed stricken at the cavalier attitudes of the rats, but it was nothing more than I'd come to expect. Greater intelligence, after all, doesn't mean you are a more ethical person, only that you are smarter at going about your desires.

I gave her a comforting hug, then asked "What of you Ages? It sounds like you knew they wouldn't willingly have left you behind, and I know they were always pestering you to rejoin the colony after you moved out."

Ages looked down into the fire as if for answers for a moment, then back to us saying "I don't know for sure. They did try to persuade me to come with them when they abandoned the nest, and I must admit that I was starting to miss their company when all this recent trouble broke loose" he finished softly as if surprised at his admission of any weakness.

After a moment he continued "Anyway, for years I'd used the lever of making and finally delivery of the sleeping powder to Dragon as a means of keeping my independence, just as you did when you decided to leave the colony, but with them moving, that lever was denied me. I'm afraid I only had one card left to play on that last hectic day, and that was that I'd keep an eye on your children for the summer if they would leave me alone, and they did.

"I think it likely though, that in the fall they would have brought me in with your family, and I'm not sure I would have tried to fight it by then. My broken ankle made me realized a few days after they left that I was truly on my own, and if it hadn't been for Elizabeth helping me, I would have had trouble keep myself fed. That got me thinking that if something really bad were to happen to me in the coming winter, no one would know or care. I could even find myself starving to death from just a minor injury if it incapacitated me" he said with a sigh.

Leana patted his arm and I saw, aside from the strength that had made her so formidable a leader at the NIMH nest, something else flickering in her eyes. Something softer, and I had to stifle a smile. I was suddenly struck that my old friend could be in more danger of losing his independence now than at any time he'd been with the NIHM rats.

Leaving Ages for the moment, I turned to our left and asked Rachel "How did you get out of Thorn Valley? You said you escaped, so I take it that it wasn't a sanctioned mission you were on?" I finished with a rueful smile.

She looked down and fidgeted a bit before tossing a small stick into the fire and answering in a soft sad voice "It most definitely wasn't approved. In fact little good is approved there anymore."

Looking over to where Justin was laughing and joking, she sighed "When we thought Justin had been killed in the old nest, Nicodemus was able to have Terry confirmed to the Council as an emergency measure on the trip to Thorn Valley. Taylor and Terry both worshiped at Nicodemus feet, all but guaranteeing support for any plan that Nicodemus put forth. Only Arthur and Mora were left to oppose his vision of utopia being implemented in Thorn Valley after that.

"The two had their hands full trying to maintain the implementation of the original Plan against the other Council members when we finally got to Thorn Valley. Nicodemus started from day one trying to change it to suit his vision of a subsistence level society based on the model of a dark age monastery. Small changes that required just a simple majority he rammed through despite any opposition from Arthur and Mora, and then Mora got pregnant.

"As Mora came to the end of her pregnancy she missed three meetings, leaving Arthur to become frustrated as Nicodemus forced through major change after major change with his sudden super majority. He removed English as our primary written language, ordered the confiscation of any English documents to be held in the library restricted section, but what really set things in motion was when he ordered work on the power room stopped and most of the workers repurposed to other jobs."

Rachel smiled a bit, then frowned saying "Anyone that knows Arthur, knows that he doesn't handle frustration very well. When Nicodemus passed the order stopping work and confiscating his engineers and technicians, he finally he blew up in a titanic rage. Nicodemus had Brutus remove him from the chamber and confined him to his rooms. Then he and the remaining Council members went to Mora where she was laid up all but ready to give birth and demanded that she participate in a no confidence vote against Arthur.

"She caved, and Nicodemus replaced Arthur with Wayne, giving him a lock on the Council and his draconian rule of confiscation, concealment, and repression kicked into high gear."

Tossing another stick into the fire she continued, "We tried living under his rules, but finally we couldn't take it after Arthur was arrested for just talking about not going along with some of the changes, so we lost hope.

We left on a rainy night to hide our tracks, because we knew the Guard would be on us the moment we were missed. All the supplies were locked down, so we had little more than the fur on our backs when we slipped out of the nest through the unfinished power room. Cliff," she choked, cleared her throat and started again "Cliff lead us North out of the valley before we turned East, but a bobcat got him on the third day out of the valley, and he was the only one of us with any real woodcraft.

"The next two weeks were a nightmare of traveling by night and hiding by day, never sure we were heading the right direction. We lost Anna to a hawk, and Norman to a snake before Fay, Glenn, and I struck a road and managed to get back to the farm, sick, starving, and exhausted, then we ran into Malcolm. The balance you know" she finished with a shudder.

Looking up she continued, "When we get to Thorn Valley, you may wish we'd stayed on the farm or gone the other way. If you attack, the Guard will stand with Brutus, and Brutus will stand with Nicodemus. Some of the others will rally to him as well, if you give them cause."

Leana growled "We have no intention of fighting Nicodemus with weapons. Only the innocent would suffer if we were to do that. My intention is to fight him with ideas and words. The idea of freedom is hard to kill, and can be cleaned of any law that infringes on it with the proper words."

She grinned and added "Sounds to me like what you need in your valley is not a war, but a revolution young lady." Patting the blanket over her legs she continued "I may not be able to stand eye to eye with Nicodemus and his Council, but I will happily cut them down to my height with words, if given the chance."

XXXX

Elizabeth:

I must say I was horrified at what Jonathan and the others were saying had been going on around me. It was almost as if I were only half awake when compared to my mate and his friend's understanding!

Later as we settled in to sleep while Amanda took the first watch of the night, I asked quietly "Jonathan, what will Nicodemus try to do to us when we get to Thorn Valley?"

Pulling me into the circle of his arms as he had so many times before when we wanted to talk without disturbing our children, he answered softly, "I'm not sure, but I can make a few guesses.

"First, I think he will try to keep us from talking to the people as a group. Likely he will try to separate us from the cats, then break us up into separate more manageable groups.

"Second, he will try to discredit us. Likely he will paint me as a liar for what I did, Jenner as a dangerous lunatic, and Ages as a senile recluse. The wildcard is Justin. Most people including Brutus hold him in high regard because of his honesty. If we can get him to side with us, get him to reclaim his seat on the Council, and Mora will stand against Nicodemus' policies as well, I think we have a chance."

"Will they?" I asked softly while looking across the fire at the lump of fur blissfully snoring, unaware of our conversation.

I felt Jonathan shrug before he said "Hard to say. Justin's had his beliefs badly shaken as of late, and I think it would only take a small push the right way for him to stand up and say no to Nicodemus, and I think seeing Arthur a prisoner and Brutus using the Guard to repress the people rather than defend them could do that."

"This Mora, do you think she will even listen to us?" I asked. I only had a vague memory of her from my night of answering to the Council. As I recalled, she seemed nice enough, but she'd been trying to put me to ease so I could remember farmer Fitzgibbon's conversation.

"Mora? I don't know" he sighed. "She was always a thinker more than a doer. She could stand with Nicodemus if she thinks his ideas are beneficial to the rats as a people."

I nodded, and then changed the subject asking Jonathan softly "Why would Nicodemus want our children so badly?"

I felt more than heard him sigh before he said, "There are two reasons I can think of. First, he hates loose ends, and Ages and our children represent threads that are within his power to tie up associated with NIMH and the colony. Second, I think he would use them to strengthen his position. If he could convince them to support his ideas, then he could say 'The children of the dead hero Jonathan Frisby support my ideas, so who are you to complain?'"

"Finally, he could be thinking of using one of them that agrees with him as Council moderator in my place. That would give him a final lock on the Council with all the appearance of legitimacy and impartiality."

I thought about this, so simple when explained to me, but beyond my ability to discover on my own.

Finally I chuckled slightly and said "Like you always said Jonathan 'You can open any door, if you just have the key.' I just don't have all the keys I need."

Jonathan snuggled in closer as a breath of cool wind stirred the fire slightly and nuzzled my ear saying softly "I think you do very well my wife. You're head and shoulders above any other mouse I've ever known."

I sighed again and said a bit bitterly "If only that was the truth. I know I'm not very smart compared to all of you, or even our children now that they're growing up."

Jonathan's silence was less painful than a false denial would have been, but it hurt nonetheless. Finally I continued "I've been thinking, about the serum a lot the last two days."

I felt Jonathan stiffen and ever so carefully he asked, "What have you been thinking?"

Swallowing, I said with a catch in my voice "I… I'm going to do it" and felt him tighten his grip into a hug.

His voice husky with emotion, he said, "As soon as we're where we can stop for a week, we'll start, and thank you so much! I, I was afraid you'd turn it down the way you felt." He nipped me softly on the nape of my neck the way he knew I liked before chuckling and saying "I will say that I think with the treatments you likely will end up smarter than I am."

Feeling stung I said "Oh, don't laugh at me Jonathan; I'm trying to be serious."

There was genuine surprise in his voice when he replied, "I'm not laughing at you love. I truly think you could be smarter than I am at the end of the treatments. You've accomplished far more than I could have before I took them. I doubt I could have learned to read at all before, and you can already read, think, and consider issues that most mice would never think of, much less about. Just look at what you've done with your short life, and think what you will be able to do with years of learning and experience behind you, and the physical improvements of better eyesight, finer control of your paws, and ability to heal from things that would kill most mice will help you too."

I relaxed as he spoke, considered his words, and asked, "You really think I could be that much smarter?"

He nipped me again and answered, "I have no doubt, and neither dose Justin. Ask him tomorrow if you think I'm exaggerating." After a moment he continued, "Can I ask what made you decided to take the treatments?"

I shivered a bit as I replied softly "I'm still scared to death of it, but I want, no I need to understand what's going on around me, and I WILL NOT allow my children to be manipulated!"

XXXX

Jonathan:

The next several nights travel passed slowly, but we made steady progress. The crow was able to make a short flight on the forth evening of our trek, delighting Elizabeth no end, and Ages pronounced him fit, but cautioned against putting too much stress on his wound for a few days.

Timothy, or Tim as he preferred to be called when he was around Amanda and Sassy, learned the ropes of cat riding, and on the second night the three started doing deep scouting for us and a bit of hunting for our carnivores. Elizabeth was apprehensive for Tim, but said nothing to dissuade his trips. We both could see what was happening, and though Tim was still a bit young by NIMH standards, he was the more mature of the three in many ways from the life he'd been living.

Martin was working hard to thaw the ice between himself and Lora, while she was doing her best to get Justin's attention. I'm sure this inflated my friend's ego to no end, but Justin was doing his best not to hurt our son or Lora, for which I was grateful. Lora's ego seemed at times more wounded and fragile than her body making that a tough job.

Merriest continued to try to gain Tarrasa's eye, and she was allowing him to feel like he was making some progress, but his immature bragging and swaggering trying to impress her, instead seemed to put her off.

Poor Cynthia ended up spending more and more time with us as her brothers and sister pursued other friendships. More than once I heard a tragic sigh from her as she watched her siblings and their new friends. I thought it a pity there wasn't another young male mouse for her to strike up a friendship with but that could be changed in the future too.

When I mentioned this to Elizabeth, out of Cynthia's earshot of course, she sighed tragically before saying "No Jonathan, don't even start thinking like that. I'm not loosing all my children at once!" and we both started chuckling.

One blessing on the trip was that every stream, and there were many in this part of the woods, provided the cats with something to eat, and we were able to find forage for our selves easily enough as our provisions started running low, even the crow had little want in the mornings when we settled in to rest.

We made camp early that fifth night next to a rock that looked like a six-foot tall dinner roll. Sullivan and Rachel told us that it was used as a way point by the rats going to and from Thorn Valley, and that we were about three-quarter of the way there. In the light of a waning moon we had a slightly larger than normal supper before bedding down as a sort of celebration. We could almost see an end to our trip through the woods.

XXXX

I awoke sometime just before sunrise from a strange dream about Gilligan and the Skipper on Wheel of Fortune to find Sullivan shaking my shoulder whispering "Up. Unfriendly company."

Not bothering with dressing, I snatched up my pike and axe, woke Elizabeth, and checked on the kids in the dim predawn light.

As I looked around, I found the fire had died down to embers and Lora and Leana were piling on fresh wood. I just hoped they wouldn't smother it as I smelled something on the wind! It was a musky smell that I thought I'd smelled before, but couldn't place.

Justin, as nude as I, was looking out into the darkness as the others were scrambling to arm themselves and I heard him growl softly and point with his spear "Out there somewhere. The wind changed and I could smell it."

"What is it?" asked Lora fearfully as fire began to grow devoured the fresh fuel with snaps and pops.

Justin shrugged, but Jenner said, "I know that smell. It's skunk. Nicodemus and I had to climb a tree to get away from one when we were out scouting up here years ago."

As the fire grew, we saw eyes shining in the dark maybe thirty feet off, then the dim outline of a large body. A very large body! It raised its head and sniffed apparently confused, possibly by the fire, possibly by the smell of cat's mingling with ours.

"Can we talk to it?" growled Sassy as she stretched and blinked.

"Talk it out of eating us you mean? I doubt it," answered Justin. "They aren't that smart, and are very aggressive. If it's hungry, it will attack if we can't frighten it."

Artie growled "Then let's put on a show for it. With our numbers we should be able to drive it off."

Puffing up Artie started growling and hissing, as he turned sideways and started forward from the left of the fire. Sassy did the same thing at the right side, and brandishing my pike I started forwarded growling and snarling inarticulately with the other mobile mice. Justin got the rats clustered about him and started forward as well on our right.

The skunk blinked and stood there as if rooted to the spot. Likely it was unsure what to do. Normally it would attack mammals smaller then itself, or run from those larger, but it didn't seem to understand what to do with a large number of smaller creatures coming after it!

Finally hunger, anger, or pure stupidity seemed to overcome caution, and it snarled and started waddling forward with more speed than I would have credited it with, directly at the middle of our line!

Justin roared "MICE SET YOUR PIKES AND STAND YOUR GROUND! RATS, TOSS AND SCATTER!"

Elizabeth, our children and I did as he ordered, slamming the butts of our weapons into the ground and hauling back on the shafts as the massive beast approached. Ages stumbled and nearly dropped his, but the rest of us managed to set our pikes and form a bristling hedgehog of sharpened sticks.

The rats tossed their spears as we were setting up, and several hit their mark, but lacked the weight to penetrate deeply into the skunk's tough hide!

I watched in horror as Toora threw her spear with all her might, but didn't scatter with the others. Instead she grabbed her stomach, doubled over, and fell to the ground!

Her toss did, by skill or accident, strike the skunk in the eye and it veered away from her rather than snapping her up as seemed its original intention. Instead its now erratic flight took it into the edge of our hedgehog!

Several of our pikes snapped on impact, but two on the edge were driven in up to the hilt, dropping the skunk to its side!

Unfortunately Tim and Amanda had been the ones holding those two pikes, and all I could see of them was convulsing skunk!

Elizabeth shrieked and we started forward, only to stagger back as we were covered with a repulsive spray from the wounded animal at point blank range! Luckily we were only on the edge of the repulsive discharge or we'd likely gone down for the count!

Still we were nearly blinded, vomiting, and virtually unable to breath. We could do nothing as with a bubbly growl the skunk dragged itself to its feet and turned a bloody face to the bodies on the ground!

It was opening its jaws and was just getting ready to snap up one of the feebly moving pair, when a small shape ran forward and rammed the broken end of a pike down the things throat!

The skunk's mouth convulsively snapped shut just as I heard Merriest scram "MOTHER!" over a horrible crunch!

The skunk staggered back a few steps, stood for a moment, blinking its good eye, then opened its mouth and coughed out a torrent of blood, and what must have been Pendra fell to the ground, motionless!

It just stood for a moment over the broken body on wobbly legs, then a mass of squalling black fur slammed into it from behind and began tearing at it with claws and teeth! Artie soon joined Sassy, but by then it was all over for the skunk. The pikes had done their jobs, but not quite soon enough.

Tim and Amanda seemed to be alive from their movements, but were not getting up. I couldn't tell through my watery eyes what condition Pendra was in, and to be honest I didn't want to! It had to be bad from the way the others were turning way, and Ages was just kneeling there next to her, not really doing anything.

As for Elizabeth and myself, we were only peripherally aware of the world around us as we struggled for breath!

End Chapter 12


	13. Darkness and light

Chapter 13 _Darkness and light._

Elizabeth:

We sat next to the stream, eyes running and sniffling, while doing our best to try to wash away the stink that just would not stop! Jonathan sat on a nearby rock warmed by the morning sun furiously scrubbing his fur with a pawful of mud and sand, with just as little success as I.

Thankfully the spray that coated us hadn't hit any important supplies or the cooler, but we'd been forced to toss some things like the cloak Cynthia had brought to us into the fire, or I should say the others had been. It had taken everything we had just to get ourselves down to the stream.

I glanced up miserably at the sound of someone coughing to find Justin standing some distance from us, paw over his nose and leaning on his spear.

He waved us off as Jonathan and I started to our feet saying in a muffled voice "That's close enough! UGH!"

As we settled back down he said "I just came to tell you two that Ages says the kids are OK, just had the wind knocked out of them, and a few bruises."

Jonathan and I had been fairly sure of this before we'd left to try to clean up, but Justin's words did go far to ease our worries.

His next sad words were anything but encouraging, but not unexpected as he said in a softly sad voice "Pendra is another matter. One of the skunks fangs went through her skull. Died almost instantly from what Ages said."

Jonathan, his voice choked with emotion, asked softly "How… how are Ter and the kids taking it?"

Justin sighed and scratched at the back of his head as he said "Hard to say. Terrance hasn't said a word since asking for a description of what happened. He just sits there holding her paw.

"Your son and Sassy are sitting with Amanda, she's crying on Tim's shoulder.

"Merriest seems to be in shock, not that the rest of us are in any too good of shape. Teresa is sitting with him, but… I just don't know. Never was too good with the soft stuff."

Remembering Toora's fall as the skunk attacked I asked, "How's everyone else. I thought I saw something happen to Jenner's friend."

If anything Justin looked even less happy as he said "Toora's in labor, and having problems. Ages says that the first pup's breech."

I was just getting ready to ask what breech meant when Jonathan asked, "You said first, of how many? Does he know for sure yet?"

Justin shrugged "Two, Ages thinks. From the gestation and the size he believes they're both NIMH like us, and likely the first NIMH twins."

Finally I asked, "What is breech, Justin?"

He turned red from the tip of his nose to his ears and started stammering, "Um, well, as I understand it the pups should, ah, come out head first. Ages said her first is sideways. He thinks there's something wrong because he can't turn it fully in either direction from the outside and he's, um, in there," he said with a shudder "trying to turn it now. That's one of the reasons I came down here" he finished with a glance over his shoulder back up the hill that was almost fearful.

"On a lighter note" he continued in a more normal voice "we lost Sue too."

"Was she killed?" asked Jonathan.

Justin shook his head "No, she bolted as soon as there was no one guarding her. Likely she's halfway back to the farm by now.

"One more thing that you may need to know if you wish to rejoin us" he said with a very slight smile. "We had to move the camp up wind about a hundred yards, so when you get as clean as you can, go north-east along the stream from here till you strike the fallen tree and go just beyond the broken base. We started a new fire so you can't miss it."

Jonathan sighed and said, "I think we are about as good as we're going to get without soap. This stuff is just not going to come out!"

Justin shook his head "Yea, I had a feeling that would be the case. Just try to stay downwind from the others till you dry. It shouldn't be so bad then.

"I'm going on north and find us a better place to camp, oh and keep an eye out for the crow. I asked him to do a bit of scouting back along our trail to see if he can find Sue, but I have a feeling she'd go to ground as soon as she heard wings."

With that he turned with a wave and walked away.

Jonathan got up and came to sit next to me, and I guess we'd gotten some of the stink out as his closeness didn't add to my misery. Or maybe it was just the sun had cooked a good bit of the dampness from our fur by then. Either way, his closeness marked an improvement over what we'd been like when we arrived.

He smiled a bit and said, "At least the kids are OK. I thought my heart was going to stop when I saw Timothy disappear under that mass of black and white fur, then again it could just have been the smell" he finished with a small half-hearted chuckle.

I tried to be mad at his flippant remark with so much trouble dogging our heals, but couldn't. Finally I gave a half grudging chuckle, but punched him in the arm for good measure.

He gave an exaggerated cry and rubbed the spot saying, "You wound me woman!"

This time I actually laughed in spite of myself; saying between chuckles "I really will wound you if you keep that up. This is serious Jonathan!"

He nodded and became somber before saying, "I know, but humor's always been my best defense against the dark things that stalk my nights."

I nodded, answering softly as I looked into the gently burbling stream "I know Jonathan, I always have. That's one of the things that attracted me to you." Looking up into his red-rimmed brown eyes I smiled thinking of all the times he had brought me from the edge of despair with his humor. Touching his cheek I said softly as a warmth I'd known and cherished since that first day on the edge of the stream flared in me "I know you. I know how much you care, and how much this has cost you, but the others don't. If you try saying something flippant to Toora just now, she may use you as a bite stick."

Jonathan chuckled, smiled, and nodded saying, "Point taken."

Gesturing at our nearly dry fur he said, "I've had just about all the scrubbing I can take, and it doesn't seem to be helping anymore. Shall we retire to the camp and see if there is anything we can do besides stink the place up?"

With a nod, I got to my feet and smoothing my ruffled fur as much as possible said, "Yes, we should get back before something tries to eat us."

Jonathan laughed as he watched my hands smooth the fur over my hips and stomach with an open admiration that always thrilled me "No chance of that, unless whatever it is has no nose."

XXXX

Jonathan:

We walked to the new camp holding paws like a couple of kids, and I felt my spirits lifted even with all the problems. Elizabeth seemed to finally be getting beyond her anger at me, and that was worth more to me than anything in the world!

My lifted spirits crashed as we approached the camp. Well before we arrived we could hear two voices, a gruff one I recognized as Ages giving orders, the other whimpering.

When we rounded the end of the fallen tree we could see Pendra laid out next to a small fire, a bloodstained cloak covering her. Ter was sitting next to the broken body holding her still paw.

Timothy and Sassy were sitting with Amanda some distance away. Amanda had her head resting on Timothy's shoulder, while he sat with his back against the cats shoulder. Sassy would occasionally nuzzle her friend, and they all had tear streaks in the fur about their eyes.

Teresa sat next to Merriest not far from the new fire, a paw on the younger mouse's shoulder. His face was dry, but his eyes and expression were those of a mouse without hope as he looked at the stained cloak covering his mother's body.

Not far away a small shelter had been thrown up. It was made of several bits of the salvaged green army surplus blanket we used for bedrolls and next to it sat Jenner looking distraught and helpless while inside I saw Ages tending to Toora while Shamoo held her shoulders and Rachel occasionally pressed on her abdomen at Ages order. After just a glimpse of what he was doing I turned away feeling queasy.

When Cynthia saw us, she jumped to her feet and dashed our direction, only to stop about a foot away, ears and whiskers wilting as she covered her nose with both paws.

Elizabeth sighed and said "It's OK honey. Go back and sit down. We'll find a spot downwind from you."

The poor girl nodded blinking and then turned away.

Leana was sitting next to the fire tending a thimble propped against the stones ringing the flames that was steaming slightly. Beside her sat our bowls. She looked up and her nose wrinkled as she said "Welcome back Frisbys. Have a seat. Tea will be ready in just a few minutes."

Testing the wind, we made sure to place ourselves downwind from the fire as we looked at the others sitting there. Most were downcast, but Martin had a somewhat dreamy expression on his face as he sat with Lora's head resting on his shoulder.

Beyond the edge of the camp I caught a glimpse of Artie as he glided by, apparently on guard duty.

Leana looked up after a check on the continence of the thimble and asked, "Bell, would you do the honors of passing out the tea?"

The white rat shook herself, got to her feet with a nod, and started dipping out tea and passing it around. When she came to Terrance, he seemed not to notice at first as she spoke softly to him, then he snarled at her and knocked the bowl she'd been trying to press into his paw to the ground.

Bell jumped backed from the hot tea with a yip, and I said softly "Ter, calm. You don't want to hurt yourself or someone else."

His ears centered his nose on me like the turret of a battleship and he snarled back in a broken voice "Her death is on your head Jonathan! If it wasn't for you, we'd still be at NIMH and all of us would be alive and happy! She was the only one of us not wounded or killed by your harebrained scheme the first time, now you've managed to kill her too!"

I was rocked back, blinking, and felt like I'd been hit, and in a way I guess I had.

I turned away and was groping for something, anything to say, when I heard Amanda say softly "You're wrong Dad."

Looking back I found that she was now standing only a few steps away from her father, our son and Sassy standing near behind providing moral support.

Ter growled back "Don't tell me there would have been a skunk waiting for her in the vents at NIMH. We were safe there!"

Amanda sighed, "You don't know Dad. Like, any day we could have been found foraging in the trashcans. A trap we'd never seen before could have caught us, or they could have done one of those tent fumigation things on the building.

"Mom wanted to come. She wanted us all out of there before something happened that would have killed us."

Ter looked like he was about to explode as Amanda continued "I know because I talked to her before we left. She told me about her fears, fears for us all.

"She told me the only reason we were still there was that after you and Leana got better, she, like, couldn't figure out how to get you guys out of there alive or where to go if she did, then she had me and then bro and that sort of capped it for her. Two people crippled, and two pups, and her the only one out of the five that could look out for herself, how could she leave?"

She squatted down and put her paw on her father's slumped shoulder saying, "The only reason she stayed was she loved you guys, and us."

She swallowed hard, adding in a broken voice as tears dripped from her whiskers "She loved us so much in the end she gave her life for us, for me. So if, like, you got to hate someone, hate me."

Terrance convulsively grabbed at her arm and pulled her down into his lap and started weeping saying softly over and over "I'm so sorry…"

XXXX

Elizabeth:

Jeremy flittered down to make a landing not far from the camp a few minutes later and seeing him, Jonathan and I got to our feet and went over to talk. As we approached, his head went back and he blinked before he gave a grin and said in his loud voice, "I'm glad you're back safe Mrs. Frisby! I was worried with you guys out in the woods alone and all, but I guess you were safe enough smelling like that."

"Jeremy!" I warned, but felt my spirits lift as well.

He blinked a few times and then seemed to understand that what he'd said was not courteous and said "Um, right. Sorry.

"Anyway, I just wanted to say that you guys should tell Justin that I saw a weasel sniffing around the dead skunk, so you need to maybe think about movin again.

"No sign of Sue, and I didn't feel much like looking. If she's out there, she's on her own."

A moan came from the shelter and Jeremy snapped his head around, blinked, and asked, "Why's he got his arm up her…"

"JEREMY!" we both scolded.

Turning back to me and seeing the scowl on my face, he blinked and said in a small voice "Um, I think maybe I'll head back up to the lower limbs and keep watch. Yea, that's it. I'll keep an eye out for weasels!"

I heard Jonathan chuckle under his breath as Jeremy slowly and carefully took flight.

Softly, for my ears only he said, "I think he likes you."

I smiled and looked thoughtfully after Jeremy for a moment before saying just as softly "I wonder if the serum would work on a bird."

Jonathan shook his head saying softly "I don't know, but that could be dangerous. Not one shiny thing in the world would be safe from him."

I had a vision of Jeremy using a stick to unlock the farmer's house and making off with his wife's jewelry and gave a small chuckle of my own.

Another moan brought me back to the here and now and I asked, "Is there anything we can do?"

Jonathan shook his head and sighed, "About the only thing we can do the way we smell, is stay out of everyone else's breathing space."

I nodded and we turned back to the fire.

XXXX

It was perhaps half an hour after our return to the camp that Mr. Ages came wearily over to the fire wiping his paws on a rag and took a bowl of tea. Sitting down heavily with a sigh, and sipping at the tea as he looked around at us he said, "I've done what I can. The first pup had its umbilical wrapped around its arm. I got it unwrapped and its tuned head down now.

"She seems to be in normal labor as best as I can tell, so it's just a matter of time."

Jonathan asked, "Will she be all right?"

Lora asked "How about the pups?"

Mr. Ages shook his head and with a brittle smile said, "They should be all right, but it's taken a lot out of her, and it was some rough handling for the pups. I won't know if the first pup has any damage to its arm till after it's born, got to watch her for any hemorrhaging too."

Taking a long pull from his tea he continued, "I'd rather have done a caesarean section, but out here…" he lifted his paw and dropped it with a sigh.

"How long?" asked Leana.

Mr. Ages shrugged again "Less than half an hour would be my best guess from the dilation." Lifting the bowl to his lips again he added "Figured I'd get a bit of rest while I could."

Jonathan said, "We may need to move soon. The crow said there was a weasel nosing around the old camp. How soon do you think we could move?"

Mr. Ages scratched his chin saying thoughtfully, "She's a tough girl, so I'd say if there are no other complications, give her maybe thirty or so minutes after she gives birth, but she'll not be able to walk far and most of her weight will need to be taken by someone else."

Jonathan nodded while I said, "I won't ask you to explain what a caesarean section is if you can tell me anything you can think of that would help with this stink."

Mr. Ages didn't even grin before he shrugged and grumbled, "If we were back at the farm, we could use hydrogen peroxide, club soda, or tomato juice, but we've nothing to counter the oil here. Likely you'll be stuck with the smell for a while till it wears out of your fur. Your eyes should get better on their own in just a few hours."

"Wonderful," sniffled Jonathan with a frown.

A voice behind us called "Well, the smell does make finding the camp a bit easier."

Turning, I saw Justin making his way back up the hill.

When he arrived, he tipped his chin at the shelter and asked "She Ok?"

Mr. Ages grinned evilly saying, "She'll be fine. You want to see?"

Justin had dropped his spear and was just sitting down, when, at this question his ears and nose suddenly went white and he shook his head with a shiver saying "I'll take your word for it doc.

"On another note", he said gratefully taking a bowl of tea from Bell and recovering his color "I found a good place to camp not too far away, maybe an hour slow walk."

I added, "Jeremy said that a weasel had found the skunk. No sign of Sue."

Justin nodded "Yea, he found and told me a few minutes ago. I asked him to scout around the spot I found to make sure there were no dens or nests I missed.

"As for Sue, she can fend for herself. I'm not risking anyone going after her."

I said as I looked up into the green canopy above us "I hope Jeremy's not doing too much flying. He's still not well."

Mr. Ages grumbled "Don't worry too much Mrs. Frisby. He should be fine as long as he doesn't get too energetic, but knowing him he'll…."

There was a cry interrupting whatever Mr. Ages was going to say, and Jenner called harshly; but with fear in his voice "Ages! Get back over here, the pups are coming!"

With a sigh Mr. Ages got to his feet grumbling, "No rest for the wicked I guess" took another long drag off his bowl of tea before tossed the dregs into the fire and walked back to where Jenner was franticly motioning.

When he was gone, Justin got to his feet and said in a whisper "I hate to, but we need to get Pendra in the ground soon. As torn up as she is and with all the fuss Toora is making, we're going to attract predators, and I don't think any of us is up to another battle. Join me Jonathan?"

Jonathan started to his feet, but I put a hand on his arm saying softly "That may not be a good idea Justin. Terrance blames Jonathan for her death and got sort of angry about it while you were gone."

Justin's eyes widened a bit, then he nodded and said "Just cool you're heals then Jonathan. I'll handle it. Much rather deal with this than what's going on over there" he said glancing fearfully at where grunts and whimpers were coming from the makeshift tent.

Jonathan tried to talk him out of it, saying he felt responsible, but Justin gave a sad smile and said while shaking his head "Please let me Jonathan, I owe you that and more" before turning and walking to where Terrance was talking softly with his children.

XXXX

Jonathan:

I felt like a heel letting Justin deal with Ter, but Elizabeth was right. It was likely better for me to stay away from him for the moment with the anger and frustration he was feeling.

We don't have religion per say to comfort us in the passing of a loved one. Some believe that the humans have a good case for life after death, while many believe that this is all there is and if you waste it, you've thrown away your only existence. I've even heard once that some rabbits worship the sun and believe he takes their souls when they die, but I've never talked to one about it.

For myself, I don't know what to believe. I know the biology behind my life, and I know part of what makes me what I am was created by humans, and perhaps a part of that was human to start with, but I don't see them as deities. So what does this make me? Do I have part of what the humans call a soul?

Considering how many different ideas humans have, I don't feel at all bad about not being sure of where my spiritual compass points. After all, some humans would say that mine is the reincarnated soul of a human sinner!

For practicality, most of us burry our dead, when we can. In this case Amanda and Tim, with the help of Sassy found a rock that the cats could move with our help and dug a small grave next to it while Justin talked Ter into letting go of his mate.

Finally, while new life was coming into the world, we said goodbye to a friend, a lover, and a mother.

Some said a few words, many just cried as Ter quietly laid Pendra in the grave with Justin gently guided his movements. After a few moments, those of us not engaged in the birth process, filed by and tossed a pawful of dirt into the grave, and finally we all put shoulder or claw to the stone and covered the grave with it.

As we quietly moved back to the camp, we were met by Mr. Ages who moved to intercept Ter. He spoke quietly for a few moments, then after a nod from my blind friend; he took Ter's paw and said in a louder voice "Would you all come with me for a moment?" Not waiting for an answer, he turned and started back to the camp with Ter in tow.

Next to the shelter and propped against Jenner's side, Toora sat looking very tired, but very pleased with herself. She was holding a pair of bundles wrapped in more of the old green blanket.

As she saw us, she smiled slightly, glanced up to Jenner, and said softly in a voice roughened by what she had been through "You say words." He nodded and his scarred features produced a genuine smile before he said softly "Friends, in honor of a noble spirit that gave her all for her child and friends, we have decided to name our daughter Pendra."

Toora cleared her throat and added "I not like Pendra much when we first meet. Thought she soft little shy mouse, but that just her outside. Inside she had iron! I proud to name pup after her. Hope she live up to powerful name."

Ter sniffled, and then turned away while his children hugged each other.

Merriest tried to say something, but choked up as well. His sister smiled weakly, but finally said "Mom… momma would have been proud. Thanks guys."

"What are you going to name the other pup?" asked Justin sniffing and a bit misty eyed himself.

"The boy?" replied Jenner. "We really haven't decided yet."

Toora said with a slight grin "Not gona name him Justin if you asking that. He not cry that much."

Even with the somber mood, that got a few chuckles, and when Jenner with eyes wide asked "Toora, did you just make a joke?" there were several snickers, but when Toora replied with a smile "Make pups, not jokes" everyone started laughing.

XXXX

Elizabeth:

We were all enchanted with the pups, and I was reminded of our pride and pleasure when our children were that age. From what Jonathan tells me, our young are not what humans would consider cute, but to us they are beautiful. Each of Toora's pups were larger than unaltered pups would be, just as mine had been. They are also born more mature than regular pups and with slightly larger heads. The fingers and toes are still fused but more defined. The tail is longer and more mature, and their eyes would open sooner than normal. For now they were little more than tiny fuzzy balls of pink flesh with dark spots showing through their closed eyelids.

I could sympathize with Toora on the difficulty of giving birth to NIMH children, but at least berth for me had been natural. Thankfully they normally seemed to come one at a time, but their size made bringing them into the world difficult! It also seemed that it was harder for the NIMHs to become or cause pregnancy from what Mr. Ages said.

I found most of this out by talking to Mr. Ages while he packed up. Now that he felt he was not under the NIHM pledge when dealing with me, he had turned into a river of knowledge. I just hoped it would last after the pleasant feeling he got from the birth faded and his old gruff personality regained control.

Toora herself struggled along, mostly under shear willpower as we moved to our new camp, using a spear as a walking stick. She refused to lean on anyone saying, "I carry my weight, not weakling!"

We spent the next day resting, much to Toora's anger. Apparently her male pup could feel her anger as she vented to Jenner and angered, nipped her as he fed. She gave a yip and looking down growled "Have name for you now. You are Thorn!"

Late in the day Sassy, Amanda, Tim, and Artie managed to catch a squirrel, but let it go. When they returned to the camp and Amanda told us what happened, Artie added with a grumbled, "No, I couldn't kill it. Hell, the damned thing looked too much like my friends!"

Sassy said with a sigh "Looks like we'll be eating bugs and fish for the rest of our lives."

That night we made sure our friends had all the fish and crayfish they could eat.

Four nights of easy travel later, we topped a small hill, and in the distance we could see Thorn Mountain peeking over the top of a hill under a setting moon. On the other side of that hill lay Thorn Valley.

End Chapter 13


	14. Getting in deep

Part 5. Thorn Valley Chapter 14 _Getting in deep._

Jonathan:

I'd never been to Thorn Valley before, but I'd seen maps, drawings, and reports aplenty of the place, but none of it did justice to the valley's beauty. That cool mourning with the sun glinting off the ponds and lake with their borders of dark trees and tumbled stones, it was so inviting that I was hard-pressed not to give in to the desire to descend and explore.

Physically the valley is about five miles long by almost two miles wide. There are two ponds on its north end and one small lake in the south that drains into a deeper valley with shear rock walls. The two ponds are a few hundred feet across and only about six to eight feet deep. The lake has an irregular shape that covers about nine acres and Arthur's survey reported it about thirty feet deep near the middle. As far as we could tell, it and the stream that supplies it never went dry, and were plentifully supplied with fish. The ponds however are fed by several small seasonal streams that come from springs that tended to slow to a trickle in the dry days of summer, and the ponds could lose up to half their volume during a dry spell as we could easily see. A large stream or small river depending on the time of year is what feeds the lake in the south. It meanders from a small falls in the north end of the valley till it empties into the lake, but mostly it stays to the west of the valley. Likely that stream was responsible for carving the valley a few thousand years back when it was filled with runoff from the glaciers as they retreated.

Most of the valley floor is covered in a variety of hardwoods, but there are several meadows and pine thickets, likely the result of lightning strikes in past years. One of the meadows on the north end of the valley was quite fertile and it was to be the target of our first farms, and Arthur had even rerouted one of the small streams that ran past the meadow into cleverly hidden irrigation canals.

The east wall of the valley was made up of granite and sandstone set down in almost horizontal layers. In many places the sandstone had been eroded away, forming natural caverns of various sizes and one section of this closest to the meadow had been picked for the Plan.

From where Justin and I lay watching the valley from its north-east end we could just make out the section of wall where the plans called for community to be built. There wasn't much to see if you didn't know what you were looking for, but we knew the floor plan. Where we expected to see the entrance there was what looked like a natural cave about two feet high by four wide. Originally it went back about six feet into the cliff face and ended, but Arthur had cut into the sandstone in the back and now a short ramped corridor with a ninety degree turn lead up to a set of large wooden doors that closed the main entrance to the community.

The community itself was roughly four levels high, but it followed the sandstone layers and that made the north end higher than the top level in the south, and a few of the rooms took up more than one level.

The corridors were arched and on average about sixteen inches tall and one to two feet wide. Two main north/south corridors had been cut so far per level; one on the outside served the few rooms with irregular shaped windows and balconies that looked like natural weathering of the sandstone, and a second that paralleled it cut two rooms back into the cliff face so the community was four to six rooms deep in most places.

Nestled tight against the side of the cliff on the north side of the colony was the only manufactured object visible from a distance, the green house. Ten feet long, six wide, and four feet high, it had been built out of window glass salvaged from abandoned buildings in a closed fishing camp on the edge of the forest. Nicodemus had fought hard not to include it in the Plan saying it would be far too easy to spot from a distance, but had been overruled by the Council at the time as being useful in providing bedding plants should there be a late spring and medicinal plants year round. It was however easily covered by rolling down grass mats that could be dropped with a moment's notice should the lookouts give the alarm.

During construction, we had found many large natural caves and caverns deep in the stone, and three larger caverns near the front we had decided to block off from the natural cave complex and take advantage of in the Plan.

One was to be a huge storage room for food and finished goods. It was roughly forty feet by fifteen, and six feet high. Arthur had leveled out the floors and ceiling, closed off several natural exits, and walled it so that a twenty by ten section of it could be used as a kitchen and dining room. He had provided ventilation heated by the kitchen flues to keep the air dry and the goods stored there from spoiling.

The second cave was the power room and workshop complex. It was only about two feet high, but was nearly thirty feet long by four feet wide. Arthur had widened out the end of this room and diverted part of a stream from the rocks above to provide drinking and sanitation water, and power. He had planned to install a three-foot overshot wheel to provide power for a ventilation system and heavy tools, forced air for a kiln for firing terracotta, and some limited metal fabrication, among other industries he wanted to startup, but it sounded like Nicodemus had shut down most if not all of that project.

Arthur had planned to leave the final cave almost natural. It was a deep grotto about forty by eighty and some ten feet tall at the highest point and flooded where it dropped into the depths. The only changes that Arthur had planned were to clear out the fallen stone and cut in steps down to a natural stone stage set before the horseshoe shaped pool in the back, after blocking off the original passages. He also added a few creature comforts in the form of wooden benches, a few side rooms, and oil lamps. The grotto was planned to be used as a community meeting hall and would easily hold up to about a thousand rats. The pool was to be stocked with minnows for the kitchen, and could also be used as a reserve water supply.

Altogether the community could hold about four hundred rats without crowding the way Arthur had planned it, but it could be expanded using natural and ratmade tunnels and rooms to hold several thousand. The only limiting factor on the communities' size would be how much food could be grown in the valley.

But all that was the original Plan. I had no idea how much could have been changed over the last few months. All I could say for sure at this point was that the greenhouse was still there and apparently in use as the mats were rolled back.

As we watched the entrance, we saw several groups of rats carrying gardening tools exit shortly after we arrived. We also could see five of the six guard towers that had been constructed from stone quarried from the construction of the community. They had been camouflaged to look like six-foot tall tree stumps with jagged tops and covered with vines. The top floor of each tower under its false stump cover was an open battlement commanding a 360 view of the surroundings, and concealing a crossbow with enough power to discourage a black bear.

The farm was just what we expected, so that much of the Plan had been carried out as well. The crops were in irregular patches and set to blend in a much as possible with the surroundings. Likely from the air you wouldn't see them for what they were, and the wheat, corn, rice, sunflowers, and barley looked nothing like the illicit crops that the DEA would be looking for. The freeform irrigation ditches were all covered so they would not give away their artificial origins.

As we lay there counting and watching the rats as they came and went, we noticed that every party that went out into the long grass from the cave was accompanied by at least one armed rat in the blue tunic of a guard.

After about an hour Justin said with a sigh, "Jonathan, this is foolish. We should just go down there and talk to them. They are our people and you know they won't hurt us."

I glanced over at him and sighed "And what do you think Nicodemus would do without you and Arthur there stepping up to bat for me? You know what he warned when I asked for help to go back to NIMH? And what do you think he would do to Jenner, and Rachel's group? I, for one, do not want to end up locked in a room making paper with Arthur, or worse.

"I also have to worry about how he would treat the non rats in our party" I continued. "He could order them driven off or killed."

He snorted and rolled his eyes saying, "Listen to yourself Jonathan! Do you honestly believe he would do something like that?"

I shrugged and sighed before replying sadly "Look Justin, I know how you feel about Nicodemus. Hell, he was like a dad to me too when we were wandering after NIMH, but he's just a rat. He's as prone to errors of judgment as any of us, and when he lost his eye I think it robbed him of more than just his ability to see the world. I think it robbed him of his ability to think boldly. Years of battling Jenner and his rash ideas didn't help that either.

"You know as well as I do that when we really got rolling on the Plan he was always for getting up here and hiding away. All the bold ideas that went along with this place like the fishing boats, the green house, and the water diversion came from you and Arthur. If he had been allowed his way he would have had us dig in deep and subsisted on mushrooms till we all became Morlocks."

Justin looked uneasy as if my words were hitting too close to the mark for his comfort so I went ruthlessly on "Now that he has total control, I think that's just what he has done, and I don't think he would take kindly to outsiders showing up on his doorstep. I also don't think he would look kindly on the return of a council member that didn't always agree with him and perhaps could ask for his seat back. You know you'd have popular public support if you did and with Nicodemus having just gotten total control…. I doubt he would be thrilled" I said looking at him in a meaningful way.

He snorted "And what do you think he would do, deny me my seat when he finds out I'm alive?"

I nodded "Yes. I doubt he has forgotten the row you had with him over developing the outside of the nest for people to use and enjoy."

"We worked that out" he growled, and I wasn't sure if the growl was about my brining up a sore spot or the memory of the fight.

Forging ahead, I gestured to the valley below and asked, "So, where is everyone then? Why are their so few people going outside, and all of them with a guard like they were prisoners? Why are the children not out playing in the sun like we use to dream of when we were talking about setting this place up? Why are there no boats out fishing on the lake?"

Justin shook his head and said, "I don't know, they could be having problems with hawks or something, but I think we should just go down there as a group and confront them. What harm could there be?"

"None, as long as we stay together and stay armed" I replied with a sigh.

Rolling to my side so I could see him, I said "Humor me for a moment Justin. Let's just say that things are as bad as the rest think they are. Would you stand with us?" I asked.

"What do you mean by stand with you?" he growled, anger crossing his face.

"I mean just that. If they send the Guard after us and try to disarm and arrest us, will you side with them or us?"

Justin's brow furrowed and he opened his mouth for a denial, but then slowly closed it and looked at me intently before saying "Just for the sake of argument then, let's say they do demand we disarm and allow ourselves to be questioned. Would you actually turn your weapons against our friends to stop it? Could you actually put a spear into Brutus if he's ordered to disarm you?"

I slowly nodded saying sadly "Yes, if the matter were forced. Could I kill him? I don't think so, unless he was trying to hurt my family, but I could disable him to protect the others."

Justin lay there just looking at me for a while, then he shook his head and sighed "I don't think I could. It's one thing to kill an animal if it's trying to kill you, but to purposely harm one of our own….."

I sighed, "If you won't fight for an idea, would you fight for a person? Say it was Lora that he was threatening with a spear? Would you just stand back and let it happen? And what about Elizabeth? Would you stand back and let Nicodemus take control of the last of the serum and keep it from her?"

Justin looked shocked and gave an indignant snort saying "That would never happen!"

"How about me Justin? Would you just stand back and let me stand alone if the Guard had spears leveled at me and my family?" I asked softly.

Justin just lay there with an agony of indecision playing over his face, then he looked back at the valley for a long moment, ears and whiskers drooping. Finally, not shifting his gaze he said softly "No Johnny Mouse. I wouldn't let you stand alone. Not again."

I smiled and put my hand on his shoulder saying, "Let's hope it doesn't come to that, Brother Rat."

XXXX

Elizabeth:

Jeremy and I had been the second of the teams of two that watched the comings and goings in the valley that day, and had counted only about forty rats. All were on business, tending the farm, gathering plants and deadfall wood, and during mid afternoon we'd seen a single, well camouflaged, boat hugging the edge of the lake in the distance, apparently fishing. We never saw any young, never saw anyone out without a mission, and all the people that were out and about had one or more members of the Guard with them.

On a lighter note, I'm not sure what happened between Jonathan and Justin as they had watched, but it seemed that they had come to some sort of understanding. I was pleased to hear them cracking jokes and laughing as we returned to report on our afternoon watch.

I was surprised to find that the popping and ticking of the fire in the little depression where we were camping was a sound I found comforting. I'd only seldom seen fire when the Fitzgibbons cleared land, and never got close to or used it till now.

As we sat around the fire in the gathering evening talking and making plans, we also made the small pile of blackberries, blueberries, and muscadines we'd collected disappear. Our cat friends were also enjoying a meal of roasted minnows and crayfish from the nearby stream. Around us the twilight was alive with the sound of insects and birds going about their business of bedding down for the coming night.

Thankfully Jonathan and I had lost much of our fragrance over the intervening days, so we could again sit with the others without spoiling their appetites. It was only when we were wet or the sun heated our fur that we would find the others giving us a wider berth.

Jenner grumbled as he spat a seed into the fire "I think you would have to be mad just to walk in down there Justin."

Jonathan had called them both down a few times as the discussion between the two became heated, but he was letting this one go for some reason.

Justin countered waving a berry-stained paw "Then what would you suggest? Storm the front gates while waving the tricolor and screaming _Vive la REVOLOTION_!?"

Leana chuckled and cut in saying "Actually that's not a bad idea."

Both of the verbal combatants stopped and looked at her like she had lost her mind and Jenner grumbled "We wouldn't stand a chance. You heard the report about the Guard."

She grinned and said "I did, and that's what gives me hope that we can do something of the sort. The question is would Mora and Arthur join us in our little revolt?"

Rachel nodded "I think if we could get to him, Arthur would listen and be inclined to support us if we promised to return his vision of the Plan to him. Mora, who knows."

Leana nodded and added "She may not even be on the Council now for all we know. As I understand the bylaws the rats setup, it requires a supermajority to remove a member, and Nicodemus had that the moment he removed Arthur."

Looking around at us, she said "Your observation reports indicated that the Guard was in most cases moving with the people as an escort, not really observing or guarding the exterior of the colony. To me that sounds like they are guarding against predators, and making sure they have no more desertions as Rachel and her friends managed. That had to hurt Nicodemus' prestige to have more people abandon his utopia, and when you rule by a cult of personality, you can't afford to lose face. I'm guessing that he will do anything to be sure that doesn't happen again, including having most of his Guard outside of the nest.

"What I propose is that we take advantage of this to slip inside the nest, rescue Arthur, and sound out Mora. If we can get them both to side with us, we have four former council members, a super majority, and the mediator standing with us. If we were to offer a better brighter vision for the future as offered in your original Plan, and if the colony is half as disgruntled as Rachel says, that would be a hard hurtle for Nicodemus to pass without resorting to using the Guard to suppress the entire nest."

Looking at Justin she asked "How would your Brutus respond to such a quandary as having four former Council members and the mediator come to the doorstep of the colony and request his loyalty to the vision of the original Plan in the face of popular anger?"

Justin blinked, then started looking thoughtful "Um, I don't know. I guess if we had the people behind us….." He shook his head and asked "If, if mind you, I were to go along with this, what would happen to Nicodemus? He's done too much good for me to see him just swept aside, or trampled under someone else's ambition."

She grinned "I think he should be reseated in the new Council to play the part of the loyal opposition, eventually. We just request that Brutus help us restore the legitimate Council members to their rightful place so they can help guide the colony back to its original course."

Justin just sat there staring at Leana with a mix of anger and respect playing over his face as Jenner gave a papery laugh.

When I looked at my mate I saw him nod slightly to Leana and she winked back.

XXXX

Jonathan:

Having decided on a course of action, we considered the best way of carrying it out that evening, even though Brother Rat was still reluctant. We finally decided that the doorstep was not the place to have our confrontation. Appearing at the doorstep gave Nicodemus the position of standing to defend the colony against outsiders. After much consideration we decided the proper place would be the meeting hall, and for that we had to get most if not all of us into the colony undetected.

Getting in wouldn't be as simple as I'd hoped it would be, but was still quite easy. Security for the colony as we had originally planned it was setup to keep out animals and to reduce its visibility from aircraft and humans on foot, not to keep out other intelligent mice and rats.

There were a number of points we could use to enter. The front doors, kitchen door, warehouse doors, or a number of vents or chimneys, but our choice of entry points was the door to the power room that Rachel and her group had used to leave. It was isolated and any noise at this door was not likely to attract attention, but it was on the opposite side of the colony from the meeting hall. Normally the door would be used by technicians to adjust the diverter that set the volume of water coming to the power room for the overshot wheel. However from what Rachel has said, the diverter currently just set the volume and pressure in the water system so the tolerance for flow was much higher than it would have been otherwise. Likely adjustments would only be needed for rain or drought, so the equipment should be unguarded.

The door had originally been secured with a simple string latch to keep out animals. Normally the string would be slipped through the hole in the door so that it could be opened from the outside by maintenance crews going back and forth to set the water flow, and pulled back inside when not in use, but likely that would have been changed after the escape. While it was unlikely that the door would have been sealed, it wasn't impossible.

On the positive side, Jeremy reported after an over flight of the colony that there was no guard on the outside of the door, and the path leading to it looked unused.

XXXX

The next morning was bright and sunny when we left for our appointment with destiny, and it didn't take long to strike the winding trail that paralleled the stream Arthur had diverted.

It was little more than a footpath and partly overgrown where we hit it, but it widened out and was paved where Arthur had worked to change the stream's original course, then cut back into the hillside along the smaller channel leading from the diverter. The diverter itself was a single piece of stone about two feet long, four inches wide by eight inches high that hinged against the bank where Arthur had started his channel, and was controlled by a windlass housed in a small hut. The windlass could be turned by three rats to adjust chains bolted to the stone's far end pushing it farther into the stream when more water was needed, or pulled closer to the bank when the flow was too high.

We found the hut with the windlass deserted and the small stone plaza around it covered with fallen leaves when we passed it and headed down the cut in the embankment Arthur had made to house the trail and the channel.

To our left the diverted water ran fast and noisy in its sandstone channel about six inches wide by eight inches deep. The path we followed was about a foot wide, made of stone cut from the channel, and was starting to get choked by grass growing up through the cracks and dead leaves.

The path ended at the wooden door in a stone wall, and the water disappeared into a tunnel cut into the stone next to it that acted like a drain. With the water flowing, only something with gills could use that way to get in.

As expected, the string was not dangling through the hole in the eight inch wide arched door when we arrived. On the positive side, from the leaves and weeds before it, the door seemed not to have been opened for some time and it also didn't appear to have been bricked up.

After listening at the door for a bit, Justin pulled out his blade and slipped the tip into the crack between the boards below the hole, having to widen it a bit to do so. When he had done this, he tried to pull the blade up to open the latch, but it wouldn't move.

I looked back at Rachel where she and the others crowded the path behind us and asked over the burbling of the water "Had they done anything to the lock when you were here last?"

She shrugged before saying "No, just the simple drop latch."

Sullivan said as he rubbed his chin "I bet they put a bar across the top of it.

"Hey Justin," he called "try above the hole and see if you hit something."

Justin nodded and used the tip of the blade as a probe. As he did he found a bar across the door that was about half an inch wide that seemed to be soft enough for the sharp blade to cut.

Looking back up to where Leana was perched on Shamoo's shoulder, he asked "You want me to cut it?"

She nodded and replied "Just try to be as quiet as you can."

He nodded and started working the bladed back and forth in the crack, the muscles in his arms and shoulders bulging as he worked.

The blade was sharp and it didn't take long to cut through the bar and the latch. One moment Justin was straining to push the blade down, the next the blade was halfway to the bottom of the door and there was the clunk of seasoned lumber falling to stone on the other side of the door!

The door opened into an arched tunnel eight inches wide and tall at the top that dropped off into darkness at about a twenty degree angle down. Being a service tunnel, comfort had not been the objective when it was cut so the walls were rough and unfinished.

We'd made a few torches soaked in pine pitch that morning and after lighting one, Sullivan, Rachel and her two friends took the lead scouting down the tunnel, while we got back into marching order.

Elizabeth and Cynthia gathered around as I settled my pack.

Cynthia bounced up on her toes and kissed me on the cheek saying "Be careful papa."

"You too" I said kissing her on top of the head.

Turning to Elizabeth I took her into my arms and gave her a hug saying "You know you don't need to do this. You could go back to the camp and wait with the others." Jeremy, Ter, Toora and her pups were unfit to aid us, and Teresa and Merriest would be staying back as well.

She shook her head saying softly "No. I just got you back, so I'm not letting you do this on your own.

"Besides, if any of our children are going, I'll be going too. Someone has to watch them after all."

Cynthia chimed in "And I'm not letting Mom go on her own! My brothers are just about worthless right now."

I gave a chuckle at her statement and the circular logic and nodded as I watched Timothy, Sassy, and Amanda as they were preparing. It had been all but war the previous night when we tried leaving all the kids at the camp. Finally we'd agreed to let them come when Sassy said she would watch out for them. I could still hardly believe that having a cat watching my children made me more comfortable!

Finally I turned back to Elizabeth saying "Keep them as safe as you can. We shouldn't be separated for more than thirty minutes or so."

She nodded as she watched Martin and Lora talking quietly to Justin while he hitched up his pack.

Teresa and Merriest wanted to come as well, but Ter and the pups needed someone to watch out for them as well as guard for the cooler a bit less flighty than Jeremy and more fit than Toora. So Merriest swallowed his pride and agreed that Amanda was better suited to help with her friend than he was and stayed with his father.

Teresa, seeing how he had matured since the loss of his mother and how it was eating him to stay behind, took pity on the poor mouse and agreed to stay behind too. She had taken some good natured ribbing for this from her siblings, but not nearly as much as she would have a few weeks ago. It seemed they had all grown up quite a bit over these fall days, and she seemed delighted to help watch Toora's pups.

Martin and Justin tried to talk Lora into staying at the camp too, but she'd have none of it. She told Justin "You promised to get me back home if I didn't like it here, so I'm going to see what I think of the place and make sure you live through it." Turning to Martin, she smiled slightly and said softly "As for you, do you really think I'd be left behind?" Before he could answer, she gave him a little peck on the cheek, and that silenced his objections, and seem almost send him into a coma while Justin chuckled and shook his head.

Rachel reappeared in the doorway a few moments later saying "There's a guard at the far end of the power room. She's sleeping next to the barred door to the lower floors, so we haven't messed with her yet.

"Be quiet as you come down" she added needlessly as she ducked back into the tunnel carrying her torch before her.

The tunnel was a strait cut running down at a constant angle with a smooth floor. As we went down into the darkness with a gentle current of air blowing into our faces, the sound of water faded till the scuffling of our feet seemed deafening, then the roar of falling water picked up as we approached the lower door where Sullivan was waiting for us.

When we had all assembled, he pushed the door open and we padded out into the deep darkness of the power room, the sound of our movements masked by the sound of the falling water behind us. In the light of the lamp over her head, we could see the figure of a dark brown rat in a blue tunic sitting in a chair at the far end of the room. Rachel was standing quietly behind her. As we approached we could see her chin was resting on her chest, rising and falling in time with her deep breaths.

We walked the length of the room as quietly as we could past stacks of wood, terracotta tiles and shelves of goods and equipment.

Gathering around the sleeping guard should she wake, Justin disarmed her by simply picked up her pike were it leaned against the wall. Sullivan opened the door a crack and watched and listened for a moment. Finally he closed the door and said in a whisper "All clear."

Justin then shook the young rat's shoulder and said softly "Alma, wake up."

She gave a snort and her eyes flew open. For a moment she looked up into Justin's face without comprehension of who he was, then as the fuzziness of sleep slowly left her she asked unsurely "Justin?" Then her expression went to wonder as she looked around and finally horror as she saw the two cats crouched behind us.

Justin said softly "Quietly now, why are you here Alma?"

The young rat swallowed hard and tried to still her shaking before saying "I, I'm on guard."

"What are you guarding, an empty room?" he asked gently.

She blinked "Um, the door. I'm supposed to keep people out of here."

"Ask her why" grumbled Rachel.

Alma's eyes widened as she glanced back at the sound of the voice and she asked with some animation "Rachel, Fay, Glenn? You're alive? We thought you all died out there!"

Rachel gave a brittle smile as she stepped up to the seated rat saying "Nicodemus will be disappointed to discover that not all of us died."

The seated rat nodded, saying "You are right about that. He's been telling anyone that would listen that leaving was not just suicide, but an attack on the safety of the nest."

Alma frowned, then turned back to Justin asking "How is it you are still alive, Sir. Brutus said that he was the last rat out of the nest and the gas almost got him too. We all thought you and Sullivan must have been killed."

Justin smiled "The rumor of our deaths was somewhat exaggerated. The gas was not cyanide, it just knocked us out."

"We are wasting time here Justin" called Leana.

"A mouse? Mice, and cats? Who are these people?" Alma asked softly as the fear of moments before was replaced by wonder.

Justin glanced back and said "Maybe not Leana. Give me a minute."

Putting a finger under Alma's jaw, he turned her face to his again and said "I'll tell you when we have time, but for now will you help us to get to Arthur? We could really use your aid."

She raked her lower lip with her teeth, a troubled expression on her face as she slowly said "I'd be leaving my post. Brutus would be angry with me."

Justin grinned "If things work out, Brutus may be returning control of the Guard to me by the end of the day.

"All we need is for you to lead us to Arthur and maybe Mora."

Slowly she nodded, her mood slowly brightening, before she said "I can show you the way, but" she glanced at the rest of us "they will cause a riot if they are seen."

Justin nodded saying "Fay and Glenn will be taking most of them to the meeting hall by way of the blocked off caves while we go see Arthur. It will just be Rachel, Sullivan, Jonathan, and I going with you."

She nodded "That should work for Arthur, but Mora's rooms are down in officer's territory next door to Nicodemus' offices and quarters. We'll be passing a lot of people to get there and you will likely be recognized."

Justin nodded "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

Leana grinned and said "Fay, if you would please lead us, I think it's time to get underway."

Looking back to Justin she said "I expect to see you in twenty minutes in the meeting hall. If you are over forty minutes, I'll consider your mission a washout and get our people out of here, if I can."

Justin nodded again and said "Luck to you."

Leana chuckled "Thanks. Luck to you as well" before patting Shamoo on the head and saying "Don't forget I'm up here big guy."

Shamoo laughed as he turned away to follow the others.

I watched them as they went to another door that closed off the natural cave system and started passing through. Elizabeth was the last to pass that doorway just behind Ages, but before she did, she turned, smiled, and waved to me, and I thought my heart would explode in my chest with pride and love as I waved back.

End Chapter 14


	15. Storming the gates

Chapter 15 _Storming the gates._

Elizabeth:

With Fay leading the way, we followed to a small door next to a big clay box that smelled of burnt wood. I found myself trembling as I paused and waved to Jonathan before ducking through the door behind the others. Beside me Cynthia took my paw in hers and gave it a squeeze saying softly "Hang in there Mom, I'm with you."

I gave her a squeeze back comforted by her strength and presence.

Unlike what I'd been told of the new nest, the floors and ceiling here were not smooth, dropping and rising without warning, and the floors strewn with everything from pebbles to boulders. In some places the walls came in so tight that the cats had problems squeezing through, and I found myself wondering at the fact that I could even feel worry for creatures that had been my mortal enemies all my life. In one place we had to go down a twisting passage while ice cold water splashed around our feet and slimy rocks tried to twist under our feet.

Eventually we came to another passage that showed some signs of having been worked and finally to a closed door. Shamoo tried the door, and it gave grudgingly to his strength, grinding on stiff hinges.

We waited silently after the door was opened, and slowly to our horror, voices came to us growing louder as they approached.

"I tell you I heard something!" said one.

"You're always hearing something down here Pete" said the other lighter voice.

Fay quickly snuffed out her torch against the floor and as our eyes adjusted to the darkness, we could see a light slowly brightening ahead of us up the hallway past the door.

Softly Leana asked "Is there any way to get behind them before they get here?"

Glenn replied softly "No. The best we can do is go back to that larger room behind us."

Nodding once and calling softly, Leana ordered "Everyone back, quick as you can!"

Carefully as we could in the darkness we retraced our steps, but the cats couldn't turn around and had to back up the hallway.

The first voice belonging to Pete it seemed grumbled to his companion "Just you wait. One day a weasel will get in here some way or another and you'll just blunder right into it."

I found my heart racing as the light got brighter faster than we could backup. Finally as the futility of our efforts became evident, Leana called softly "Cats and Shamoo and Bell forward, everyone else to the sides!"

We were jostling around as we saw two forms stop at the open door and heard Pete ask "Still think I'm hearing things, Becky?"

Becky replied "Ok, so you heard something. Likely it's just kids playing or something. We'd better go find them."

Pete snorted "It's those somethings that will get you eventually."

We could now see the two as rats dressed in blue, carrying pikes, and holding a flickering lamp. After a moment at the door, they again started forward.

About that time Shamoo, Leana perched on his shoulders with the two cats on his heels, and Bell bringing up the rear, dashed up the hallway. The startled rats stopped dead in their tracks, their mouths agape as the black shapes, cloaks rustling, rushed down on them from the darkness!

The two didn't even lower their pikes as Shamoo, holding his spear sideways and at hip level, bowled them over, knocking the weapons from their paws and their lamp bounced off the walls casting huge distorted shadows everywhere and dragging Pete down the hall about a cat's body length. Hot on his heals; the cats were on top of them in a flash and Sassy hissed "Quiet now, and no sudden moves or you are dinner!" as Bell grinned down at them with her sinister red eyes.

Shamoo gathered up the pikes and set the guttering, somewhat battered, lamp back upright saying softly "I'd believe them if I were you. It's been a rather long day."

Pete's closed eyes were leaking tears as he started whimpering under Artie's paws, while Becky swallowed hard and her frightened eyes locked on Bell's pink orbs. Slowly she asked in a shaken voice that was little more than a whisper "Are you ghosts?"

Shamoo laughed as he handed a pike to Bell "No, not yet, and I hope to keep it that way."

From his shoulder Leana ordered "Now tell us, are there more guards ahead?"

Becky shook her head, then her eyes narrowed as she asked "Who are you people?"

Sassy said from where she crouched with a paw on her chest "The only thing you need to know is we come from NIMH."

Becky's eyes widened and the color that had been returning to her ears drained out again.

XXXX

Jonathan:

The hallway beyond the power room door was empty as we followed Alma out. I got into the middle of the group so that hopefully anyone that would see us wouldn't get a good look and think I was a child.

There was a lamp hanging from the ceiling above the doorway, the polished copper reflectors helped the small flames battle the darkness of the hallways into a sort of twilight that would have been near total darkness for human eyes. The floors here were smooth stone and most of the rooms we past had no doors showing the space beyond packed with stacks of goods stored there.

A ramp about ten feet down the hallway and set into the wall had another lamp above it and lead up to the next floor. We could hear voices as we approached it and brighter light spilled from above. Justin gave Alma a pat on the shoulder as if to say 'Now you prove yourself to me.'

She swallowed hard then started up the ramp before us.

The next floor was much better lit than the one below. The floor was of red terracotta tiles and the walls whitewashed to help reflect the light. There were several rats in brown or tan tunics moving up or down the hallway. Most were carrying something or pushing small carts loaded with goods. None were really close to us and all seemed intent on what they were doing as we came up to the second level, so no one noticed us right away.

Alma turned back at the top of the ramp and started down the hallway away from the heart of the nest, and ahead we could see a burly rat dressed in blue standing outside of a doorway and looking rather bored as he leaned on his pike.

The rat straitened up as we approached and I could see his brow nit as he got a look at our party dressed in dark blue or black cloaks rather than just the simple brown tunics and carrying spears. Alma stopped before him and said "We need to see Arthur."

I could see the guard tighten his grip on his pike as he paid no attention to Alma saying "I haven't heard a word about you being back Rachel, and you are suppose to be dead Justin. Does Nicodemus know you're here?"

Justin stepped forward saying "Not yet. I've come to talk to Arthur first."

I recognized the rat as Clyde, a young hothead and not the person we needed here now. He eyed Justin and the crude spears we were carrying, then his eyes dropped to me and widened as he growled "Jonathan!" Looking back up to Justin he lowered his pike between them and snarled "I don't know what's going on here, but you need to back away now! I have orders that no one without the permission of the Council it to be allowed to talk to Arthur!"

All activity in the hallway had stopped by now and a group of about ten rats were gathering whispering and pointing at us.

I said softly "Cats out of the bag Justin. It's time for you to choose your side and our future."

Justin looked at Clyde and after a moment said in a commanding voice "Stand aside Guard. This is an order from your Captain!"

Clyde wavered for a moment then said "You are not a member of the Council anymore Justin or head of the Guards for that. Now back away!"

I don't know what would have happened next, but before Justin could respond, the door opened and a large meaty paw grabbed Clyde by the collar and yanked him into the room behind. There was the sound of a short scuffle, a thump, then the sound of something hitting the floor. After a moment a voice I recognized as Arthur said gruffly "Well, don't just stand there catching flies, come on in!"

As Justin pushed into the room, I could see vats and other equipment for making paper about the workroom, drying lines strung across every available inch of the ceiling with paper pinned to it, and in the middle of the floor Arthur's muscular bulk was sitting on Clyde with a pulping hammer in his paws. The only movement from Clyde was the slow rising and falling of his chest, somewhat labored under its burden.

Seeing how easily Arthur had felled a well trained Guard, I made a mental note to never anger someone that has used a hammer and chisel to carve out tunnels!

When Arthur got a good look at us, his eyes lighted and he stood giving a glad cry of "Justin, Jonathan, Sullivan, and little Rachel as well! Damn I'm glad to see you! Now I'm dying to hear your stories, but if we stay here we well could be dying in a few minutes. Likely someone is on the way to the Guards now!"

Justin shook his head asking "You don't really mean that do you?"

Arthur, a full head shorter than Justin looked up and growled "After what's been happening I don't know, and personally I don't want to find out after Nicodemus giving the Guard orders to disable anyone trying to run from them outside the nest.

"Do you have a plan to get out of here?"

I stepped forward saying "Maybe better than that if we can get you and Mora to help us and we can get to the meeting hall. Do you know where Mora is, and is she still on the Council?"

Arthur lifted a bushy eyebrow and snorted "No, she resigned to teach in the school full time about a week ago. From what I heard it sounded to me more like Nicodemus allowed her to step down rather than remove her."

Looking back to Alma I asked "Can we get to the school from here?"

She nodded saying "Yea, easier than her quarters, but we better get going. Likely the Guard will be trying to figure out what's going on and how to respond by now."

Turning to Justin she asked "Can I have my pike back? I'd rather not be defenseless if we come up against some of the Guard that didn't refuse the order to turn our weapons on our own."

Justin nodded and silently handed her the pike. As she took it and turned to step back into the hallway, he looked at me and I could see the pain in his eyes. For better or worse, his choice had been made.

XXXX

Elizabeth:

The hallway beyond the door ended in a group of rooms and beyond them an archway into echoing darkness. Pointing to the archway Fay said "That's the meeting room where the others should meet us. All we can do is get ready and wait for them."

Becky and Pete were standing against the wall as Sassy and Amanda watched them.

Sassy growled "What do we do with these two?"

Glenn opened one of the doorways and after a moment said "Stick em in here. This door's the only way in or out and there's not much that they can get into in there."

Amanda growled and gestured with her blade "You heard him, in there. Move!"

After the briefest of hesitations the two rats five times her size shuffled over and into the room. The door was closed and Amanda put Shamoo's old spear through the pull ring, effectively locking the door.

While Amanda dealt with the two guards, Fay and Glenn had disappeared into another of the side rooms and we could hear them moving things around. Shortly they reappeared with a cart stacked high with lamps and headed to the archway saying "Let's get the place ready for what's to come."

XXXX

Jonathan:

We raced up another ramp following Alma and at the top headed toward the heart of the nest. As we dashed forward I gave Arthur a condensed version of what we'd seen and done, and hoped to accomplish. Here there were a good number of people going about their business, but the moment they saw us they would stop and many cried out in surprise and some in greeting as they recognized us. An unarmed guard that saw us dropped the cup he' been sipping from and, dropping to all four, dashed away.

Alma, panting from exertion, called over her shoulder "That's done it if nothing else has! We'll be lucky if we aren't stopped in the next few minutes!"

Coming to a set of doors marked in large yellow letters "School" and below that "Quiet Please", Alma pushed the doors open saying "You guys go talk to Mora, I'll stay here and try to distract them!"

Justin paused for a moment to touch her on the shoulder before dashing through the doors ahead of me.

The room we found ourselves in had been designed for multipurpose use. It was large and the center section could be used for study or as a lunch room that could hold about a thirty rats. Around the outside of the room were shelves that at one time were expected to hold many hundreds of books. As of now most were empty. The outer walls also held doors to the individual classrooms and one marked "Kitchen Staff Only".

Currently there were maybe twenty young rats sitting at the tables. They all looked up in surprise as we burst into the room, some jumping to their feet. The young teacher standing at the head of the class started to say something no doubt about the example we were setting, then her jaw dropped as she whispered "Justin!"

Justin grinned and said "Hi Izzy. Where's Mora?"

The young rats ears colored as her jaw dangled, but she pointed to one of the classroom doors to her right.

Justin winked at her saying a jaunty "Thanks" before we dashed to the door and Arthur flung it open. Here was a class of older rats, and Mora was sitting at a desk listening to one of the students reciting. All fell quiet as Arthur called "Mora, no time for explanations now, but how would you like to give your class a civics lesson about revolution and people taking back power?"

Mora stood blinking for a moment, looked around at the expectant eyes of her class, and then swallowing hard, nodded, asking "What do I need to do?" and the class erupted into cheers.

XXXX

As we passed back to the main room, rats of all ages had flooded out of the classrooms, much to their teacher's dismay. The teachers were trying to regain some control, but the young rats in most cases were not paying any attention to them as they cheered and whistled.

We left the uproar and the room by the tunnel that led back down to the kitchens. Normally this direct connection to the lower level would be used to deliver lunch to the students, but it provided a method for us to use to get past the majority of the nest without having to use the main hallways.

We burst out of the corridor into the dining room and pandemonium broke out as we passed between tables and headed out the rear doors.

The back hallway to the meeting hall was crammed with people all talking in small knots that ether fell silent or occasionally broke into a cheer as we ran past. I wasn't sure they were cheering us because they felt a change in the air, or if it was just that they needed something to raise their spirits.

I was falling behind at this point and gasping for air as I tried to keep up with my taller companions. Seeing this, Arthur simply snatched me off my feet and tucking me under his arm pounded along down the hallway as though I was no burden at all.

There was a Guard standing before the double doors at the end of the hallway. She straitened up as we approached and lowered her pike calling "Halt in the name of the Guard!"

We slowed as we approached, and behind us cutting through the crowd came more Guards! They were a good way down the hall, but would catch up with us in moments!

Justin called "Council business. Step aside by order of the Council!" as we approached. Seeing Arthur Mora and Justin seemed to cause her to hesitate for a moment, and that was long enough. Justin batted the pike aside and we dashed through the doors while behind us we heard a voice call "Halt in the name of the Council!"

The room we entered was immense! Had I been on my own feet, I would likely have paused to take in the natural beauty stretched before us! The lights in the room were coming up as before us lamps were being lit on the stage below showing off the splendor of the cave, and the many empty benches that faced that stage before the pool. The light also showed our companions as they now franticly worked to set out the last of the lamps while we pelted down the steps.

As we arrived at the shoulder high stage, the doors we had entered slammed open again and guards started pouring in and dashing down the steps behind us!

Jumping up on the stage and help us up, Justin called "Council members and Sullivan to the center of the stage! The rest of you buy us some time!"

The cats and the others dashed in behind us as I grabbed Elizabeth's paw and dragging her after me to the center of the stage and called "As moderator I call this emergency Council session of the Rats of NIMH into order! I will take the minutes and record them at a later date, Justin will chair!"

Justin called quickly as the Guards seeing what was before them slowed in both confusion and fear "As we constitute a corium of members duly constituted by the Rats of NIMH as original Council members and I do not recognize any actions taken after my untimely visit to NIMH, I call on this session to reinstate Jenner to the Council and temporarily remove Nicodemus from the Council pending an investigation of possible tampering with the Council and the Plan as approved by this Council."

Arthur called "Seconded!"

Justin then called "All in favor?"

All three paws came up, though Mora seemed a bit dazed by what was happening and couldn't seem to take her eyes from the cats.

Justin then called quickly "Motion carried! I now nominate Sullivan as the temporary fifth Council member in place of Nicodemus!"

"Seconded" called Jenner quickly in his raspy voice.

"All in favor?" Justin called.

All four paws came up.

Justin called "Sullivan has been nominated and voted in unanimously as the fifth member of this Council by a super majority. He will serve till relieved pending the investigation of Nicodemus' actions.

"We now constitute a legal five person Council with Moderator.

"We will now formally recess till the people of NIMH have gathered and Nicodemus arrives."

"STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING! THIS IS AN ILLEGAL ACTION!" roared a voice from about midway down the steps.

Looking up, we could see the dark form of Brutus and six of his Guards coming down the steps with their pikes lowered while at the doors two more Guards were trying to keep people from entering the double doors from the front hallway while a third was struggling to close the doors we had entered.

Justin seeing what was going on roared at the rats at the main doors "MAC, LEE, LET THE PEOPLE IN! THIS IS AN OFFICAL COUNCIL ORDER AS WELL AS ONE FROM YOUR CAPTAIN!"

The order had the desired effect as the two stepped back, the doors slammed open, and rats started flooding into the room.

From the steps Brutus called "CLOSE THOSE DOORS!" and Lee after a moment tried to close his door. On the other side Mac pushed his doors back against the wall and took a guard stance to one side after saluting Justin with his pike.

At the rear door the guard there went down under a sea of rats as they flooded in.

After a few moments of pointless struggle, Lee gave up and headed down the steps to where several Brutus' party had ground to a halt and several of the Guard were arguing with Brutus.

More Guards came into the room along with the flood of people and Brutus tried to get some sort of order out of them, but their loyalties seemed mixed between him and their original Captain as Justin called to the guards that were showing loyalty to him "Continue to let the people in and someone go escort Nicodemus to this Council meeting. It's time he reported on what he has done and why!"

There was a cheer from many people causing Brutus and his knot of guardsmen looking around in alarm.

As more people piled into the room and the noise built of people talking and yelling, guards squabbling over who was their Captain, and Brutus roaring orders that for the most part were being disregarded, I found Elizabeth looked up to me with frightened eyes.

I tried for what I hoped was a reassuring smile and stroking her cheek saying "Welcome to the other side of my life love. Now you can see why I tried to protect you and the children from it."

End Chapter 15


	16. Nicodemus

Chapter 16 _Nicodemus._

Jonathan :

The roar of voices started to die down as a party of five rats entered from the front hallway. I easily recognized Nicodemus by his eye patch and shoulder bag as he entered, and guessed that the other four in his group were the other Council members he'd appointed.

Nicodemus held up his paws and called "Please! Please everyone! Let us be civil and see what these visitors have to say to us!"

As silence started to fall, Nicodemus and his party moved down the steps and Brutus with his guards moved to join them.

As they approached the foot of the stairs, Justin called "Nicodemus, please approach this Council. We have questions for you about your conduct and changes made in the Plan we feel were not made in the best interests of the people."

He replied as he squinted his remaining eye, trying to see who was speaking "Ah, so the rumors were true. You have returned to us Justin. I am pleased at your return, but disappointed in its manner. It seems you have come not to rejoin us, but rather with outsiders including cats to start a war" he finished sadly.

Justin responded "I was rather disappointed to discover that since their arrival at this bastion you have been treating our people more as captives in a prison than members of a free community. Why are the children not allowed out in the sun? Why are all the people I've seen outside of these walls under guard as though they are a gang of prison laborers? Why are people so desperate for freedom that they will give their lives in a bid to escape this place? And why are all the original Council members but you standing here with me?"

Turning and waving to those of us on the stage he continued "As to my friends here, most, including the cats, are refugees from NIMH and have as much right here as you or I."

Nicodemus snorted "Cats from NIMH? You know as well as I that there were no cats at NIMH, and as for Jenner and Arthur, they are criminals that forfeited their right to sit on the Council.

"If you wish to speak to us, take your animal friends out of our home before they harm someone."

Artie chuckled and said in a refined voice "Rats of this colony, hear me. I and my friends here were victims of NIMH and their experimentation as much as you yourselves. Did you think Dr. Schultz would stop his work just because you escaped them? No! They tried again with more rats, cats, and even dogs. We are the result.

"We only escaped from him with the help of some of your first generation victims that were recaptured, and one of the two mice that escaped with you that returned to help his mate. That mouse, Mr. Jonathan Frisby, offered us sanctuary here among our fellow victims. Would you turn us away simply because of our species?"

This started grumbling and talk from the observers.

Giving Elizabeth's paw a squeeze I stepped forward with her at my side saying "It's true" I yelled, then said again as the observers quieted "Its quite true" and had the satisfaction of seeing the color drain from Nicodemus' ears as he recognized my voice. I continued as Nicodemus asked something of Brutus and it seemed he replied with a description of all of us facing him "I am back, and I brought a few refuges that have proven good and faithful friend and companions."

Turning to the knot of guards at the foot of the stage I continued "But more importantly Nicodemus, why don't you tell the people why I had to fake my own death and what you were planning for our children and Elizabeth here who saved your lives, or has a cat got your tongue?"

Nicodemus held up a paw and sighed "You all lodge many accusations, and while I don't need to reply to your false Council that holds no power here, I will."

Looking at me he said sadly "You know why I would not let you go back on what was likely a fool's errand Jonathan, and Justin and the other Council members of the time agreed with me. We feared that you could be captured and forced to lead Doctor Schultz back to the farm and to us. The Plan was not ready then and that would have been the death of us all. As it was, we only just managed to get away to this refuge that was not truly ready for us. A year ago when you asked to go back we would have had no place to go but our deaths."

Turning to face the rats that had taken seats to watch the events play out he continued "It may sound cruel, but better the death of one individual following the natural order of things than the death of all of our people. We had to act to try to stop the selfish actions of one individual from endangering our entire community."

Turning back to us he continued in a mournful voice and I felt my guilt go through the ceiling as his words pierced me to the heart "As to my plans for your mate and her children, Elizabeth Frisby was drawing to the end of her natural life, alone. For her noble and selfless act in supporting of our community I intended to let her live out her life in peace, and after her passing to bring her children into this community. It would have been cruel to leave them out there alone after her passing. You, my friend, may be willing to abandon your responsibility to your children and endanger us all, but I was not!"

He turned to Justin as I found myself rendered speechless and continued "While I am happy that you are back my boy, it saddens me that you make such accusations against this legitimate Council. We only do what is needed to protect this community and better its people."

Turning back to the spectators he said "The people go out with Guards for their own safety, not because I am trying to hold them prisoner. This, my boy, is the wild and there are predators out there. That is why our precious children are not allowed outside the safety of this community. It's a dangerous world out there Justin, not the playground you envisioned. A hawk could scoop up one of our children almost effortlessly, and you know that.

"As to the escapees as you call them, I assume that you are referring to Rachel and her crew of malcontents. The young sometimes act irresponsibly as you know. In response to a resetting of priorities they took it upon themselves to abandon us, much as Jenner and his followers did. Sadly many people will put their own agenda ahead of the needs and safety of the community as they and Arthur did.

"In regards to the Council members; our legitimate Council is constituted as it is because Arthur and Jenner proved to be willing to do whatever it took to push their personal agendas over the good of the people, you were gone and thought dead, and Mora resigned to spend more time with her new son.

"All appointments were done legally according to the charter we all voted for in the first days of the Rosebush Colony."

With the bereaved sigh of a wronged parent he continued "Had you just returned to me, we would have worked something out about your seat and your responsibilities as Captain of the Guard. Before this, I valued your wisdom, but that wisdom seems to have failed you as I find you siding with the enemies of our people."

The people listening looked thoughtful and some started nodding at Nicodemus' words.

"Enemies" growled Arthur jarringly into the growing feeling of support for Nicodemus. "I suppose I became an enemy of the colony when I expressed a difference of opinion with you and your vision for the future. You know yours is not the only vision and you are not infallible don't you? Shouldn't you listen to the people that built this place when they tell you that you are wrong rather than locking them up? Should you fear my voice when I take my case to the people after the Council you stacked with your sycophants rubberstamped your orders? Sounds more like a dictatorship teetering on the edge of revolt rather than a community dedicated to the people it should be serving to me."

Rachel stepped forward and snarled "Malcontents! You call us malcontents when you rob us of our vision, our tools, and tell us that the knowledge that we worked so hard for is worthless? Are you surprised that when you try to enslave us we rebel? Yes we became malcontents, and most of the people in this community are not pleased with where things are going now."

Looking at the crowd she called "Surly you all realize what Nicodemus' view for the future will mean for us?" Stepping to the edge of the stage she lifted one of the lamps saying "What will you do when the lamps we built are all broken, use candles till they are all gone, then torches? What will you do when the hinges on your doors need replacing, the distillery and presses for oil fail, or the plumbing stops working? Will you do without? Will you return to being rats living in piles of garbage? That's the direction that Nicodemus is taking this community. Slowly we will fall back into barbarism, and you can see it. You know it!"

Before Nicodemus could speak, Jenner added in his ragged voice "This is just what I feared when old Nic here decided to drag us all out into the wild in the first place. I will admit that I also had misgivings about our ability to grow our own food, but the hard work of our people seems to be proving me wrong there.

"I however was not wrong about something else. If you allow our people to return to the barbarism as Rachel pointed out Nicodemus' policies will lead you to, we will become a diminished people and likely return to just being rats in a few generations. Is that really what you want for our children?"

Looking around at the people as they started grumbling he continued "We have always wanted better for our children. Better lives with leisure time for creativity, more knowledge to understand how to do things better, to live without fear. Do any of you see that as your future as Nicodemus is writing it?"

The grumbling of moments before started turning to shouts and Nicodemus raised his paw calling "People please!" but before he could say another word a young voice, quavering with fear or anger, cut through shouting "NICODEMUS! TELL THEM THE TRUTH ABOUT WHAT YOU WOULD HAVE DONE TO US!" and I saw Timothy step to the edge of the stage with anger in the set of his ears and tail, and an equally angry Amanda at his side.

"Isn't it true you intended to drag us into this colony as prisoners if we objected to your demands that we join you!?" he snarled.

Nicodemus smiling benignly said "We would have brought you in for your own good and safety! You are still too young to make your own way in the world and I would no more leave you on your own that I would any rat child."

Timothy snarled back "Funny the way you apply your rules and laws for the benefit of others. When we were born and were undeniably of NIMH, you wouldn't allow us into your community even though it would have been safer for us, meanwhile you continued to put our father into harm's way to drug Dragon. When we thought we lost our father, you were again willing to leave us to the whims of nature, and I almost died, twice!

"Now that we are almost adults and able to care for ourselves you say it would be cruel for us to not be taken into custody along with Mr. Ages? For safety?" Who's safety Nicodemus? Why? What were you planning to do with us? Did you think to use us as a lever against Mr. Ages to keep him here, or was there a more subtle game you were planning to play with our lives?"

Nicodemus was taken aback by this assault almost as badly as I. I never guessed that Timothy could be so forceful, but he'd changed dramatically after meeting Amanda.

Nicodemus seemed to be ready to refute the charges, but then Ages stepped up and placed his paws on their young shoulders, a hard angry expression on his face.

Seeing this, he held his tongue and instead turned from us back to the angry crowd, held up both paws, and called "Please, please everyone! Let us retire and cool our heads so that we can make good decisions! These people are little more than rabble-rousers!"

Voices from the audience started calling "No!" "I want my tools back!" "Have it out now!" "Down with Nicodemus!" "You think we are a rabble?!"

Leana called from her perch on Shamoo's shoulders. "We do need to have this out now! Who do you wish to follow? Nicodemus and his vision of a future of more rules, more hiding in the dark as this wonderful place you have built crumbles around you, or will you follow Justin and this Council that would restore your vision of the future of light and better lives, and eventually lead our people into taking our place in the sun?"

The crowd roared its approval and a chant of "Just-in Just-in!" started up, rattling the roof of the cavern.

Nicodemus looked around and spoke quietly to Brutus, and then they started back up the stairway with the six Guards and his councilors.

The crowd's chanting suddenly turned to angry boos and shouts as they saw what was happening, and a few started trying to push past the guards and get at Nicodemus and his council members.

Seeing this, Justin called over the roar of the crowd "Brutus! Please hold Nicodemus and his friends till this Council has ruled for the benefit of the people, and remain with us yourself. We will need to decide what to do about a Captain of the Guard!"

The big dark rat paused and glanced back at Justin biting at his lower lip in indecision. He then turned back and looked down at Nicodemus as he climbed the stairs trying to avoid the paws grasping at him. Almost reluctantly he stepped up, reached out, and put a paw on Nicodemus' shoulder saying something.

Nicodemus turned and there was a quick heated discussion between the two while the guards watched and tried to keep the angry people from harming anyone.

While they were speaking, at the head of the steps people started pooling up, blocking the doors and armed guards that seemed to be loyal to Justin were among them.

Looking around, Nicodemus saw the growing angry mob and seemed to slump. He again spoke to Brutus and the big rat nodded before turning and leading the way to the stage where we waited, and the crowd's anger turned again to cheers.

At my side Elizabeth asked softly and a bit fearfully "Is that it? Is it over? Did we win?"

I pulled her close and said with a sigh "I think we've won this battle, but it's too early to say by how much or for how long. Unfortunately politics isn't nearly as clear-cut and clean as war."

She shivered a bit and surprised me by saying "I almost wish Toora was here to make sure it was war and it was over."

Before I could formulate a response Leana replied from where Shamoo was handing her down to Ages saying "We may all wish that before the end Mrs. Frisby."

XXXX

The new Council officially stripped Nicodemus of his power as he stood silently and defiantly before us, then he was escorted back to his apartment to await further review. He hadn't really broken any laws so it was doubtful that any real punishment beyond his temporary removal from power was possible, but he had badly abused his power and the people's trust.

Next his stacked Council was disbanded and its members asked to return to their normal jobs.

Finally Brutus stood before the new Council looking both defiant and worried, and I felt Elizabeth press a bit closer to my side. When I looked down she flashed a worried smile saying in a slightly shaky voice "Sorry, but he still frightens me."

When I gave a questioning look, she just flashed me a smile saying "I'll tell you about it later."

"Before you start" Brutus said in his deep voice while looking at Justin "I just wanted to say thank you for getting me out of the gas. You had no more way than I did of knowing it wasn't cyanide."

Justin smiled "It was my job as Captain of the Guard and unless the others have any objections…" he said looking around at the others. Seeing no denials he continued "we would like you to stay on as Captain if you are willing."

There was some grumbling from the spectators, but not a lot. Brutus nodded slowly saying "I would be honored, and let me say it will be a pleasure not having to enforce harsh and unpopular rulings for a change."

Looking at the people gathered around he said, "Most of you know that enforcing the law was almost as uncomfortable for me as those laws were for you. Those Guards that were dismissed since we got here and those that resigned, I ask you to come to my office tomorrow for reevaluation. I think I can assure most of you that if you still want them, your jobs will be offered to you again."

Turning back he continued, "With your approval, I will also be shrinking the Guard somewhat. I don't see the need for so many guards now, and some I would feel much better without."

Justin nodded "As you think appropriate. Day to day running of the Guard is now your responsibility and your call. Unless the Council has special instructions for you, I think you will be allowed your head to run things as you will."

Justin looked around and asked "Other business?"

Arthur growled, "You bet I have some."

Raising his voice he called "Rachel! Front and center."

She blinked and stepped forward "Yes, sir?"

Looking at her from under his brow Arthur said "I'm appointing you as my lieutenant for now. If you work out I'll keep you. If not, I'll look for someone else."

Rachel looked stunned for a moment then asked "Your orders?"

Arthur grinned slightly then ordered that all the confiscated goods of the people that had not been destroyed were to be returned. He then ordered her to setup a meeting with his engineers for the next morning to report on damage done to tools, the power room, and infrastructure needs.

Mora then took the floor and ordered all books returned to individuals and the school library and that written English be added back to the curriculum.

Sullivan took on the job of monitoring the inventory and said he would be providing a list of what we had and what we would need as soon as he could.

Finally we came to Jenner, and I must admit I was holding my breath as he took a breath and said "I see a few pieces of unfinished business that we need to clear up."

Looking at Justin he said "First, Mr. Chairman, the status of those people that accompanied us on our journey here. I would like to recommend to this council that all of them including those that were not altered at NIMH be allowed to join us here in this community."

Justin nodded "Anyone opposed to this?"

Mora asked "The cats as well?"

Jenner nodded "And a bird as well I think. Without their help, I for one would not be here, and I strongly doubt that any of the others would have made it."

Mora shook her head and sighed. Looking at the cats she said, "If you promise not to eat anyone, I will support this."

Sassy chuckled as Artie said, "Dear lady, we have found we are unable to eat any rodents. They look too much like our friends."

Mora blinked in surprise, as Amanda offered "It's true. I've seen it with my own eyes."

Shaking her head she chuckled "Then you have my support" and the motion carried, though some in the audience seemed less than pleased.

"My second point" said Jenner "involves the NIMH serum and data we now have in our possession."

I felt myself bristling in anger, but his next words cooled that.

"I believe that the information and serum should be placed in the capable hands of Doctor Ages and that if he is willing to take up the challenge he should start researching the information contained on that flash drive given to us, but that Jonathan Frisby should consult with him on the distribution of what serum is now in our paws considering how much he risked to obtain it."

Looking at us he asked, "Will you two accept the responsibility?"

I nodded, and Ages snorted saying from where he was holding Leana in his arms "When you put it that way, what choice do I have? Yes, I'll take the damn job as soon as I can get back from salvaging my papers before they become nesting material; however I want Lora appointed to my staff. She has incites that I will find useful."

Looking surprised, Lora nodded, then smiled.

With a smile of his own and a slight reddening of his ragged ears Jenner said "My final point is I would humbly request of Jonathan and Ages that as soon as she is strong enough that Toora be placed on the list of possible recipients of the serum behind Mrs. Elizabeth Frisby."

I felt Elizabeth stiffen at my side as I replied with a voice suddenly little more than a whisper "I have no objection" and Ages gave a curt nod as Leana gave him a small smile.

Justin broke into a huge grin and said "I approve, and if there are no objections or other business before this council, I have one more bit of business I would like to bring up.

"I propose that as soon as we bring in our friends waiting for us, we all take the afternoon off and have a party down next to the lake. Any apposed?"

There was no opposition, and the people gathered around the stage began cheering.

A pair of arms wrapped themselves about my neck and pulled my face down as Elizabeth planted an ecstatic kiss on my lips saying "Mr. Frisby, you have much to make up for." Easing her grip slightly she looked up into my eyes with an expression that had lived in my dreams these last months. Behind her I saw Tim and Amanda embracing as Sassy lightly bumped them with a cheek. Martin shared a smile with Lora as they gave us thumbs up. The only one of our children here that didn't seem totally ecstatic was Cynthia, and she looked far from unhappy.

I smiled as wellbeing and warmth filled my soul and replied in a husky voice "And it seems I'll have many years to do my best at gaining your forgiveness, Mrs. Frisby" before returning her kiss.

The End


End file.
